Different
by Gtimes3
Summary: Yes, he could see that some girls were pretty, and could understand in a way why his tennis club admired them; but to imitate the girls by chatting on and on about them, well, that was just stupidity. TezukaxOC. Golden Pair. COMPLETE! :D
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: I have completely revised this story. I was bored, and it needed doing...I've changed some mistakes and taken some small things out of the story. And I have also added an extra chapter; which I had accidentally - not entirely sure how - missed out beforehand...which was troublesome...and I wanted to add it in...therefore you might want to read the story again; although you won't be missing overly much if you don't. Although I do like the story much better the way it is now...Thankies muchly to anyone who has reviewed in the past! :D WOopWoop! I love you all...and I hope you enjoy the new version of the story...**_

_**Song for this chapter: Kiss Yourself Goodbye - All American Rejects**_

_**Chapter 1: Hardest s'later**_

Hot red strands of hair whipped her back viciously as she flew back and forth across the court. Sweat was now dripping from her body, as she upped the pace for the last leg of her game. Stabling herself, and taking a few short breaths; she waited for her partner to serve. Seconds later the ball had been returned. And the game had been won.

Relatively puffed, the redhead approached the net, ready to shake hands with her losing opponent. After gripping hands long enough to get their breath back, they stood back and grinned at each other.

'It seems that you will be ready to leave us soon, Ayame.' The trainer murmured softly.

'I've known that for a little while now, Hannah' Ayame replied, still smiling, 'I gather that you too, will be leaving to pursue your dreams.'

'Ahh yes, that is true. I'll take it that Kunimitsu is the one that informed you of that'. A cheeky wink accompanied her words.

'Yes,' came the soft reply, 'Kunimitsu…'

A hand coming down hard on her shoulder brought Ayame out of her reminiscence. 'You'll see him back in Japan I expect,' her trainer laughed. 'On your head be it. I wouldn't want to see that stupid, mean, moaning man again. Him and his stupid lectures...'

Ayame sweatdropped. Before laughing at the pout her trainer had donned.

Hannah sighed, 'Don't know why you two get along so well, he's so mean Ayame!' Ayame just laughed, amused by this woman's whining. She'd met many people who were worse than Tezuka Kunimitsu.

Ayame linked her arm through Hannah's, and dragged her back towards the rehabilitation centre, changing the subject as she went.

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'I ought to get it cut,' he thought to himself, as his hair tickled the back of his neck, disturbing his concentration. Sweat poured off his head as he charged back and forth along the court, whacking the ball back over the net when it invaded his area. 'Three more points,' the voice in the back of his head informed him. The first one came quickly, lobbing the ball simply over his opponents head. It took another minute to gain the second point needed, before he took his chance and ended the game swiftly with his famous drop shot.

'Maa, good game Tezuka!' Oishi called out, walking swiftly towards the net, and Tezuka himself. The team mates quickly shook hands and complimented each other's playing.

When he'd finished talking to his friend, Tezuka turned and addressed the rest of the club; 'Training is over now! Everyone is dismissed! And don't be late for tomorrow morning's practice or you'll be punished!'

A groan shock the team, as they trudged off court, exhausted from their training as usual.

As usual they annoyingly high pitched Tomo-chan greeted them with screams of 'Well done Ryoma Sama! Ryoma Sama!' as the team exited, now nursing aching legs and their more recently aching ears.

'It was a good practice, ne Tezuka?' Came Fuji's soft voice from behind the Buchou himself.

'Hai Fuji, it was indeed.'

'Hm.'

When Tezuka entered the changing room, he was rather displeased to find that, as per usual, his tennis team were chatting about completely idiotic topics; today, as it commonly was, the topic was that of girls. He could hardly understand it himself; yes, he could see that some girls were pretty, and could understand in a way why his tennis club admired them; but to imitate the girls by chatting on and on about them, well, that was just stupidity.

'Hey, hey! Echizen, is she pretty huh?' Momo, as usual was bellowing.

'Hn.' Replied the freshman. Annoyed that the subject of his cousin had caused such a big discussion. He'd only mentioned it because the others had moaned that he never had anything to say. It was pretty much the only 'news' he could think of.

'When is she coming O-chibi?' Came Eiji's input, 'Is she going to come to Seigaku? It'd be cool nya!'

'Two weeks,' the freshman reluctantly divulged. 'Not sure.'

'Ne! Oishi! Don't you want to meet Echizen's cousin?!'

'Hai hai, Eiji, it'll be nice I guess, does she like tennis Ryoma?'

'Aa.'

'Ne Tezuka, what do you think?' Fuji asked, turning to smile at his bochou.

'About?' Came the uninterested reply.

'Echizen's pretty cousin is coming to Japan!' Yelled Momo, punching the air.

'Hoi hoi!' Came Eiji, also excited, 'She likes tennis and is coming to Seigaku nya!

'Mada mada dane, I never said that.'

'I think,' said Tezuka, 'Nothing.'

The room sighed, except Kaido, who hissed, although that could be counted as a sigh. In the midst of the disappointment, Ryoma managed to sneak out of the room. 'Baka,' he thought to himself, 'Never mention girls again.'

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Ayame had never been very good at wrapping presents; it wasn't, as you could say, her forte. However, she had made a special effort this time, and the little blue box in front of her looked just fine, in her opinion. At least it hadn't taken her as long to wrap as it had taken her to write the dammed letter. Admittedly, she knew that it probably wasn't worth the trouble, she doubted he'd go in for this Valentine's day rubbish, but it gave her an excuse to contact him again. There was also the fact that she was quite sure he'd already have a mountain of gifts already from the girls at school; he was very attractive after all. She sighed. 'Well' she thought to herself, 'At least I may be able to see him again this way.'

After all, she had not seen her good friend since he left Germany to return to school in Japan, around two months ago. The term 'stupid git' came to mind, he hadn't even left a note for her, and had left while she was visiting her sick Gran. 'Maa,' she thought, 'That's Kunimitsu for you.'

She reached over and pulled her mobile phone out from her bag, before finding the number she needed and telling it to ring. When she heard the male voice answer, a smile spread across her face.

'Ne Ryoma, can I ask for a favour?'

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It would have taken far too long, and taken far too much effort for Ryoma to have pushed through the insane crowed of girls who were in his Sempai's classroom. He therefore decided that the best way to see his buchou was to wait until they were in the changing rooms for practice. Supposedly they'd be safe from the eyes of their fangirls there. 'Good,' Ryoma thought hopefully, 'no stupid giggling and screaming anymore…it's driving me up the wall.'

Ryoma, compared to his Sempai's, had pretty much managed to get through the day scott-free. The only girls that bothered him were Sakuno and Tomo. He was pretty sure this had something to do with the way the two of them, and the freshmen trio pretty much shadowed him all day, and managed to scare away a lot of people who tried to come close. Something that Momo in particular found excruciatingly amusing.

'Hey! Echizen! Maybe the rest of us should get bodyguards like that too eh! Hey! Echizen! You listening?'

'Mada mada dane.'

Tennis club was the same as the rest of the day. A riot. In a manner of speaking. All the way round the courts were girls, screaming at the top of their lungs at their preferred boy.

'Tezuka sama!'

'Ryoma sama!

'Kaido sama!'

'Fshhhh'

All Ryoma could see was girls, and all he could hear was their squawking and giggling. It was damaging to concentration. Some regulars, however, seemed to be performing even better before a crowed. Eiji's acrobatics had suddenly got a lot better. Echizen thought he was somewhat like a performing seal.

It was only after practice that the girls were dealt with by Ryuzaki sensei, who made them all 'clear off and let the boys get changed'. The clubhouse became a safe haven, 'silence', thought Ryoma, is golden.'

Much to Ryoma's distaste, the silence did not last for long.

'Hoi! O-Chibi! What did you get for valentines? Chocolates nya!'

'No idea.'

'Waa! Why not O-chibi!'

'Haven't opened them' Ryoma replied dumbly, and wasn't going to either, he thought to himself.

'Maybe Ryoma kun is like Tezuka Eiji, and doesn't open his presents, said Oishi kindly.

'Hai.' Replied Ryoma.

Typically, it was that moment when he dropped his bag and the presents he had received rolled out onto the ground.

''Are those from Tomo and Sakuno nya!? We got presents from them too right Oishi!'

'It appears that we all did,' Fuji stated. 'Maybe since we all got presents from them, we should keep at least those, Right Tezuka?

'Hn.'

Suddenly, Ryoma remembered why he wanted to get to the clubhouse so much today.

'Buchou.'

'Hai, Echizen?'

'Here,' He shoved the small blue box into Tezuka's hands.

'What's this?' He asked, glaring at the offending present, as if it was the worst thing he'd seen since the mountain of presents he'd seen when he'd got to school that morning.

'It appears to be a present, Tezuka,' Came Fuji's helpful voice from the far corner.

'I can see that Fuji. Please don't let girls shanghai you into giving me presents Echizen, I don't accept them. Who is this from? You can give it back.'

'Mada mada dane buchou' I'd rather not make my life a living hell at this age.

He received questioning looks from the rest of the team.

'She said if I didn't give this to you, and directly to you, she would make my life a living hell. And I'm inclined to believe her.

'Who is it nya! Does she come to Seigaku? Hoi hoi'

'Hn,' was the only reply.

Ryoma glanced over at the captain, who was looking at the box questioningly. He hadn't yet decided to open it or not. Ryoma was giving nothing away it seemed, but Tezuka doubted Ryoma would give him a present from a girl without good reason, he hadn't brought any others, by the looks of it.

Tezuka still hadn't opened it by the time the tennis club started to leave. 'You might want to open that, tezuka Buchou', Ryoma's voice came from behind him. Annoyed Tezuka shoved the gift into his bag and walked out, promptly forgetting all about the dammed gift on the way home.

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_**Okay, well I don't think this chapter changed overly much; but oh well. Please review? xx**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: I have completely revised this story. I was bored, and it needed doing...I've changed some mistakes and taken some small things out of the story. And I have also added an extra chapter; which I had accidentally - not entirely sure how - missed out beforehand...which was troublesome...and I wanted to add it in...therefore you might want to read the story again; although you won't be missing overly much if you don't. Although I do like the story much better the way it is now...Thankies muchly to anyone who has reviewed in the past! :D WOopWoop! I love you all...and I hope you enjoy the new version of the story...**_

_**Song for this chapter: When I'm gone - Simple Plan  
**_

_**Chapter 2: Leaving **_

'The airport is packed today' Ayame thought to herself. An announcement rung out from the speakers on the walls; telling her it was time to board her plane. She turned, smiling, to the woman beside her. 'Thanks for coming to see me off Hannah, it means a lot to me.'

'It was a pleasure,' came the reply, 'I'll miss you y'know?'

'Ahh, maybe I'll see you again sometime; you never know.'

The two women embraced and bid each other goodbye and good luck, knowing this would probably be the last time they saw each other; at least, in person. The path Hannah intended to follow would probably lead to photographs in magazines, and interviews on television; Ayame would be able to see her that way. It was unlikely though, that Hannah would ever see her patient, and her friend, ever again.

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Somehow it seemed ironic that the sun was shining brightly on a day such as this one. But maybe if we'd said goodbye as the rain poured down the windows, it would have been too much like a movie.

However she chose to look at it, Hannah was not just saying goodbye to a patient; she was bidding farewell to a friend. If Ayame had just been a normal patient, Hannah doubted she would have even bothered to come to the airport with her. The girl would have just hired a taxi, and made the journey home alone, just like the countless others who came to the clinic from abroad.

The other members of staff there were all sad to see Ayame go too, she'd been there so long she'd almost become part of the scenery. 'A very noisy part' she thought, and chuckled to herself, that girl was always smiling and trying to make those around her laugh. If Hannah didn't know better, she'd say that the girl probably radiated happiness.

The girl had also had a big impact on her future life, Hannah had realised, Kunimitsu wasn't the only patient who had wanted her to start playing tennis professionally again. She was almost surprised that she hadn't realised the two were in cahoots from the start. Although she was sure that Ayame didn't know Ryoma Echizen, she was quite sure that she was the one who'd given Kunimitsu Tezuka the idea of using the kid to provoke her into playing again. 'Damn brats' she murmured to herself.

The feeling of Ayame pulling her into a huge bear hug brought Hannah from her thoughts, before she wrapped her arms around the smaller girl and squeezed her tight. 'See you later kiddo', she whispered softly. 'You bet', Ayame replied, pulling away and winking. Within moments, she'd grabbed her suitcase, and had turned away to walk to her plane, dragging the case behind her.

Hannah Essenheimer felt a sharp pang in her chest, as she watched the young girl walk away from her. Red hair bounced off her back as the girl walked off. The girl didn't look back once as she made her way along the corridor, and turned a corner to the check in desk. But that was okay, Hannah knew Ayame had always found it painful to say 'goodbye'.

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_**This chapter was always pretty damn short - I don' think I changed too much here either xx**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: I have completely revised this story. I was bored, and it needed doing...I've changed some mistakes and taken some small things out of the story. And I have also added an extra chapter; which I had accidentally - not entirely sure how - missed out beforehand...which was troublesome...and I wanted to add it in...therefore you might want to read the story again; although you won't be missing overly much if you don't. Although I do like the story much better the way it is now...Thankies muchly to anyone who has reviewed in the past! :D WOopWoop! I love you all...and I hope you enjoy the new version of the story...**_

_**Song for this chapter: It's been a while - Stained**_

_**Chapter 3: Memories**_

The first time he saw her, he was sitting alone on a table, at the back of the crowded cafeteria. Everywhere he looked were crowded tables of people; all from different places in the world. Some from France, some from England, a couple from Africa, and many from Germany; which was where he currently resided – the rehabilitation centre in Germany; surrounded by strangers gabbling in different dialects that he did not understand. He was far from home; that was for sure. He was lucky he could even communicate with the doctors; now was one of those times he understood why middle school students were forced to take English as a compulsory subject; all the doctors here spoke English. So far the only other person he had met, who actually spoke Japanese, was Hannah – his personal trainer. She was a nice woman, but she drank too much; and they trained too little – though he supposed that was because she did not want to harm his arm; she was the professional, after all.  
He was sitting on his own in the cafeteria, because he had arrived in Germany only a couple of days before, and as yet, he had met no one he could befriend. The English patients tended to gather in one big, quite intimidating group; and he felt that it would be rude to try and befriend them, since he did not speak their language overly well. He worried that they would not exactly take to him well; and that he might feel like an outcast. Also, he did not know any English 'slang' words; so he felt he might be a little dumb as to what they were talking about. As yet, he still knew of no Japanese patients that were staying here at the centre.  
He was merely watching the rest of the patients moving around and eating, as he picked at his own food when he saw her. She was standing around with a gabble of girls; who had come down to lunch in a group; he heard her first; rather than saw her – she was chattering away in English; but he heard a slight Japanese accent. He looked up and there she was; a Japanese girl, gossiping with the other patients – the English ones.  
The girl was quite tall; about a head shorter than himself, he would guess; and she was terribly scrawny. If he had to guess; he would say she was here for an eating disorder; although her plate was piled high with food. However; he doubted that anyone could be that skinny naturally – she didn't seem to have much muscle either, from what he could see, so she didn't seem like she could be sporty.  
As he watched, she threw back her head and laughed at something one of the other girls had said. That's when he noticed her hair. It was extremely long; falling all the way down to her waist; further when she was laughing; head falling back; and it was bright red, even brighter than Eiji's – a feat Tezuka wouldn't have thought possible unless he had seen it with his own eyes; which he had. When she straightened up again, he noticed her smile for the first time; and he saw it was a very nice smile indeed; her lips curled up high at the sides, and he could see that she had small dimples. Yes, he told himself, she had a very nice, and more importantly, a friendly smile.  
He was just pondering on whether he had the courage to go up and speak to her, once he had finished his lunch, or not, when she turned around and met his eyes. He could see from here that her eyes were a bright, sparkling green. And he watched as her mouth spread into another lovely smile. He attempted to smile back, but his frown seemed stuck in place; he was probably too practiced at holding his stoic face, he thought to himself, somewhat annoyed at himself. By now she had turned back to her friends – she probably thought he was very unfriendly because he had not smiled back.  
Tezuka turned back to his food, grimacing a little more than usual. Now he would have to work up the courage to go and speak to her, maybe to apologise for such a, well, unsociable greeting. He supposed she probably thought he was rather grouchy or something now.  
It came as a huge surprise to him therefore, when he heard a tray slap down on the table next to his, and a chair sliding out from next to his.  
His head snapped up, and he found himself face to face with the girl who had smiled at him only minutes ago. She was smiling again now as she looked at him; before she sat down next to him, still smiling, and reached out for her can of coke.  
Tezuka watched silently as she cracked open the top, and poured the entire can into the large glass which she had brought down with her, before she pulled it towards her and started gulping it down; drinking almost half the glass, before putting it back down, and leaning back, sighing. "Sorry," she said, leaning forward again, and grinning, "I really needed that; this therapy sucks right?"  
"Ah", he replied; not thinking of anything else to say, he turned his head back towards his food.  
"Ah right, the food sucks more huh?" she carried on. He looked up at her as she pulled her knife and fork towards her, before spearing some pasta and putting it into her mouth; he watched as she chewed and swallowed; before looking up at him and making an over dramatic grimace. The corners of his lips twitched upwards into a small smile.  
The girl grinned back at him, "that's better", she told him, "we can smile even when we are in rehab you know?"  
"Ah", he replied again. Picking up some more pasta on his fork, and eating it; the girl sat and laughed at him, until he looked up at her again questioningly.  
"You don't have much to say do you?" she asked him, still smiling. Well, I guess that's okay – I'll just talk enough for both of us!" she continued. Tezuka hoped she was joking.  
It appeared that she was, as she didn't try to engage him in conversation; the two continued to eat in silence, until, that is, Tezuka caught on to the fact that her friends were throwing glances across the cafeteria at them every now and again. He turned to her and asked whether she shouldn't be sitting with them or not. She just laughed at him.  
He decided, since she was being so kind as to be sociable with him, that he ought to help her out a bit. It would be nice to have someone to talk to while he was here after all; and she did seem nice enough.  
"What's your name?" he asked. He waited for her to swallow the food she had been chewing, before she opened her mouth and…

"Ayame!" yelled a familiar voice.

…the words were taken right out of Ayame's mouth. She just smiled at him, before turning around to greet the woman who had stolen her words.  
"Hannah!" she said; grinning. "What brings you to our merry table?" she joked.  
"Ah, I see you've met our Kunimitsu", the trainer answered, sitting down next to Ayame, and smiling at him. "He just arrived from Japan a few days ago; it's good to see you've got another Japanese friend now right?"  
"Hai", Ayame replied, turning to smile at Tezuka again, "it's very nice to meet you, Kunimitsu". It would be a lie to say Tezuka wasn't surprised to hear her call him by his first name; although he supposed Hannah had called him Kunimitsu; it seemed that here in Europe everyone called each other by their first names; he had a lot to get used to, it would seem.  
He supposed he didn't mind though.  
"And you, Ayame san", he told her. He watched again as she laughed. He wondered why; maybe she just had a fixation with laughing? Could that be why she was here?  
"Don't bother with the suffix Kunimitsu", she told him, "I don't like formalities at the best of times."  
"Ah", he replied.  
Both girls turned and smiled at him again.

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Over the next few months, Ayame and Tezuka became inseparable; especially after Tezuka learned of her connections to tennis, and a certain grumpy first year on his regular team.  
He was extremely surprised to learn that Ayame and Ryoma were cousins; to say the least; however, as he got to know her, he found out that they did share quite a few family traits; for example, an exceptional talent in tennis, and an obsession with the phrase 'mada mada dane'. Tezuka, needless to say, was not looking forward to a time at such Ryoma could use the phrase on him. Sometimes he hoped it would never happen; other times he realised that it was inevitable.  
Another thing Tezuka was extremely surprised about, was the fact that he got on so well with this girl. Tezuka usually had a bit of a problem getting on well with the opposite sex. It seemed to him that they were all either troublesome fangirls, or hated him for no apparent reason. He assumed the reason was he was too unsociable, or that they were not in favour of his popularity. Though he thought this would mean that they'd get along great – he was not in great favour of his popularity either.  
Ayame, it seemed, was in neither category; and she made it incredibly easy for them to be friends. She seemed to understand that he did not want to talk all the time; and the fact that he did want company, even when he didn't want to talk. This was probably, he guessed, because she had grown up with Ryoma in her family. She also told him, on many occasions, some very amusing stories about the young prodigy, at an even younger age. He would never tell Ryoma, for fear of death, but the kid really was pretty funny, and even cute.  
Because they got along so well, Hannah, their trainer, decided to even give them therapy at the same time, which meant they could hang out then, and also spend time together out of therapy, because they would have the same times off. During this time they went sight seeing, and played friendly tennis matches together; but very lightly, since they were still in rehab. Sometimes Tezuka wished they could both go all out; he was very interested in seeing how skilled she really was; although he could tell from her form, and the style in which she played, that she was definitely very good.  
Day by day they discovered more about each other; and the interests they shared. Both enjoyed running, tennis, reading, and had been forced to endure piano lessons all their lives. However, Tezuka couldn't understand her loves of chocolate and shopping; while she couldn't grasp his enjoyment of maths and green tea.  
Ayame, he discovered, had very interesting ways of balancing their likes and dislikes through compromise; though they seemed to be weighted in her favour more often than not. Like the times she convinced him that a good compromise would be to do maths homework in the morning, and then go late night shopping in the evening.  
Another one of her interesting compromises was the drinking of green tea, whilst eating chocolate. Eventually they both dragged themselves down to the nearby shops; so that she could buy some ice tea, and he could buy some dark chocolate. That turned out to be the best compromise by far.  
Tezuka, overall, had to admit to the fact that; despite not being able to play proper tennis, the bad food, and the endless, mostly bad, and sometimes very amusing, but generally failing, compromises that Ayame came up with – somehow; he wasn't sure exactly how yet; Tezuka had enjoyed his time in Germany. And he knew that it undoubtedly had something to do with the redhead he ended up spending the majority of his time with.

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_**Here is the extra chapter promised; there was a better original...but I losted it xxx**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: I have completely revised this story. I was bored, and it needed doing...I've changed some mistakes and taken some small things out of the story. And I have also added an extra chapter; which I had accidentally - not entirely sure how - missed out beforehand...which was troublesome...and I wanted to add it in...therefore you might want to read the story again; although you won't be missing overly much if you don't. Although I do like the story much better the way it is now...Thankies muchly to anyone who has reviewed in the past! :D WOopWoop! I love you all...and I hope you enjoy the new version of the story...**_

_**Song for this chapter: The Logical Song - Supertramp  
**_

_**Chapter 4: New beguinnings  
**_

'Alright class, settle down now', Takai sensei called out, walking across the front of the room to her desk. Several people pushed themselves off their friends desks and made their ways back to their seats; having been chatting to their friends before class, and the group was soon silent.  
'I know it's a bit late in the term,' their teacher continued, 'However, today we have a new transfer student! I want you all to be very welcoming to her of course, and I hope you'll help her find all her classes. Now I'm sure she'd like to introduce herself.' The teacher then turned to the door and beckoned someone inside.  
For the first time in his life, Tezuka Kunimitsu almost had a heart attack. Because from the hallway emerged a girl he thought he might never see again. Certainly not in a Seigaku uniform. A lot of people in the class stared rather pointedly at the girl who had just entered, the boys in particular, Tezuka noted. The girl wore her hair down to her waist, but her fringe hung just above her eyes, which were bright green. She was almost too skinny, but you could see she was muscular, in a sort of feminine way. As she walked in, she smiled, and it was a smile which reminded Tezuka a little too much of a certain tensai he knew.  
'Konichiwa', she said, bowing to the class, 'I am Echizen Ayame, please look after me!'  
Ayame straightened up and beamed at the class in front of her. Several of whom had their hands up.  
'Would you like to answer some questions about yourself?' Takai Sensei asked kindly, gesturing to the people with their hands held up.  
'Ah, hai!' Came Ayame's enthusiastic reply, 'I wasn't too sure of what to say anyhow…' She pointed to the nearest boy with his hand up.  
Kin cleared his throat before asking his question, 'You said your name was Echizen Ayame, are you related to Ryoma san?'  
Ayame laughed, 'Hai hai! We're cousins; I'm living with him right now actually', She grinned, baring her teeth, and blushed a little.  
'Does that mean you play tennis? Nya!'  
'Kikamaru san! Don't speak out of place!' Their teacher scolded from her desk. Ayame just giggled, and answered with an affirmative. The next question came from someone Tezuka recognised as one of Ryoma's fans. Or Ryoma's 'disciples' as the regulars had started to call them, much to the freshman's distaste.  
'Are you anywhere near as good as Ryoma sama?' Was her question.  
'Better', Ayame replied, with a grin and a wink.  
'Hmph', said the fan, 'And what would he say about that? I wonder…'  
Tezuka was probably the only one who noticed how the corners of Ayame's lips twitched up at that point. He watched, holding back a laugh as she proceeded to tip her imaginary hat and say 'Mada mada dane' to the girl. Several members of the class burst into laughter; including Eiji and Fuji, who were seated just a few places from Tezuka, while the girls looked somewhat shocked, and sent disapproving looks at Ayame.  
'Ahh', came their sensei's voice from the corner, 'I think that's enough excitement for one day, hmm? Ahh Echizen san, there are several seats free, please take your pick.  
'Maa, I think I'd like the one by the window please…I've been meaning to work on my tan…' More laughs echoed around the room, before the teacher made gestures to tell them to quieten down. Everyone then pulled their eyes away from their new classmate to look at the board. Tezuka watched discreetly out of the corner of his eye, as Ayame took her place next to him and pulled out her stuff, before turning his attention to the board as well.

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When the bell rang to tell the students of Seigaku that it was break, Tezuka quickly packed up his belongings, and pushed them carefully into his school bag. Usually at this time he would rapidly think up an excuse to get away from the group of girls who almost always approached him, and make his way to somewhere quieter, usually the school library. Today however, he slid round in his chair to face the girl who now sat beside him.  
Ayame's hair was hanging down the sides of her face, as she tilted her head down to read her work, and her brows were furrowed in concentration as she remembered the last few points of the lesson, and hurried to jot them down before she forgot. A few moments after Tezuka had turned to her, she raised her head and smiled at him through her red bangs. Then, quickly, she packed her things away and turned to her friend.  
'So,' Said Tezuka, 'What brings you here to Japan?'  
'Ma,' She replied softly, 'I thought I'd come and welcome you back after your long trip away to Germany.'  
'Bit late for that isn't it?' Tezuka deadpanned.  
'I seem to recall you telling me that 'it's never too late' hmm?' The corners of Tezuka's lips twitched up into a small smile, Ayame just grinned at him.  
'Ma, Tezuka, aren't you going to introduce us to your friend?' Came the voice of Fuji Shusuke, who had appeared at Tezuka's shoulder. 'Don't keep her all to yourself, ne Buchou.'  
Tezuka shot the tensai a warning glare.  
'Nya! Fujiko! I want to be introduced too nya!' Eiji joined in, soon to be followed by Shuichiro Oishi, 'Hey Eiji, maybe we shouldn't crowed them eh?'  
'But Oishi!' Whined the hyperactive acrobat. Ayame giggled at the two of them, she recognised them as the Golden Pair from what Kunimitsu had told her.  
'Pleased to meet you', she said, smiling at them once they stopped bickering. 'I am Echizen Ayame.'  
'Ma, I am Fuji Shusuke, Echizen san.'  
'Ayame is fine', the girl told him, still smiling, 'And you two are?' Ayame already knew of course, but it was more polite to ask of course.  
'Kikamaru Eiji! You can call me Eiji though Ayame chan!'  
'Hai hai, of course, Eiji kun'  
'Ahh, and this is Oishi! He is my doubles partner, nya Oishi!' Kikamaru had latched onto Oishi's arm and was jumping up and down by this point. Oishi grimaced at Kikamaru, before turning to shake Ayame's hand. 'Nice to meet you, Ayame chan.'  
Tezuka stood up suddenly, making them all jump. 'How about a tour of the school then, Ayame, I wouldn't want you to get lost on your first day.'  
'Hai hai, lead the way then', The girl replied, jumping up, before smirking and adding 'Buchou' as an afterthought.

Fuji didn't think he'd ever seen Tezuka look so annoyed.

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Ayame had already had a tour of the school, before the day had begun, as all new students did, the headmistress herself had shown her around. The student body president was indisposed, allegedly. But Ayame supposed it was more fun to walk in to Kunimitsu's class and see the shocked look on his face, rather than to meet him before school started. Now she trailed through the corridors behind him, smiling, and watching his back as he walked. She knew that he wasn't going to take her on a tour of the school, but obediently followed as he lead her up to the roof.  
'Such a beautiful day', Ayame thought to herself as she stepped out into the sun behind her friend. She walked across to the side of roof with him, before he turned around to face her, and opened his mouth to speak.  
She shoved him to the side, grinning, and said 'Ne Tezuka, stop blocking the sun, I was serious when I said I was working on a tan here!'  
'Hn,' came his ever nonchalant reply. 'So what really brings you here to Seigaku then?'  
Ayame turned her back on him, and leaned on the railings, looking out towards the tennis courts. 'Information like that comes at a price Kunimitsu chan', she replied fondly, 'Information like that costs, hmm, maybe lunch?'  
'Will you always sidestep serious questions?' Tezuka said softly, 'You're too stubborn.'  
'I was serious about lunch, Mistu chan,' Ayame teased, 'I will tell you then, on Sunday okay? It's a long story.'  
'Hai,' Her friend replied, 'I understand.'  
A bell rang out from the school below them, signalling that it was time for them to get to their lessons. Ayame turned around to leave, expecting Tezuka to follow her. 'He's never late after all' she told herself.  
'I'm sorry, Aya, I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye, but I knew how much you hated them, and it would have been…hard for me.'  
Ayame stood still, she was surprised by his words, 'Baka, Kunimitsu', she thought to herself. 'Don't be a fool,' she said aloud, 'It doesn't matter anymore'.  
'Hai', Tezuka replied, following her back to class.

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_**Review? Xxx**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: I have completely revised this story. I was bored, and it needed doing...I've changed some mistakes and taken some small things out of the story. And I have also added an extra chapter; which I had accidentally - not entirely sure how - missed out beforehand...which was troublesome...and I wanted to add it in...therefore you might want to read the story again; although you won't be missing overly much if you don't. Although I do like the story much better the way it is now...Thankies muchly to anyone who has reviewed in the past! :D WOopWoop! I love you all...and I hope you enjoy the new version of the story...**_

_**Song for this chapter: I could get used to this - The Veronicas  
**_

_**Chapter 5: Date**_

Over the next week, Ayame rapidly became quite popular amongst the pupils of Seigaku, and she ended up by almost as many fans as the boys tennis team. 'Ironically', thought Tezuka, boys were just as bad as girls when it came to their crushes. Boys had chased her round school all week, leaving presents in her locker and on her desk. Some even had the cheek to ask Tezuka to give her their gifts. Since he hadn't known whether she was accepting these gifts or not, he had had to give it to her. When he'd turned up with the present Ayame had laughed so hard he thought she might spontaneously combust. 'Although she hadn't, it might have solved a lot of problems if she had', Tezuka had thought to himself. It had turned out that she wasn't accepting the gifts after all, and she'd made Tezuka go and return the gift, along with an apology.

Tezuka often found himself wondering, however, if Ayame believed that the only sane boys in school were the tennis regulars. 'How ironic' he thought to himself. However, she seemed to get along well with the regulars, and had even gone out to the burger bar with Ryoma and Momoshiro on the way home after school one day. That was to be expected though; Tezuka already knew that the cousins were close.

Ayame had also come to watch the boys play tennis on several occasions, when he'd asked her if she was going to join the girl's club, she'd turned up her nose, and told him that the girls team looked pretty rubbish, and that there was no point if they weren't a challenge. On the most part of course, he agreed with her. Most of those girls were only on the team because they were trying to impress the boys. It was annoying, but at least they were practicing instead of hanging around the boy's courts after school.

It seemed that Ayame had even won the hearts of the girls who'd given her disapproving glares over what she'd said about Ryoma. He wasn't surprised though, Ayame was very amiable, and probably had many hilarious stories about Ryoma's childhood to impress them with. He'd sure heard a few. Tezuka chuckled to himself as he recalled their talks in Germany.  
It was now Saturday afternoon, and the last bell was about to ring. Tezuka looked over at Ayame, still sitting next to him, head bent over her work, hair spilling onto her desk and over the sides, and he smiled to himself. He was looking forward to their lunch the next day. There were a lot of questions he wanted her to answer.

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'Beep…beep…beep…beep…beep…beep…beep…beep…beep…beep…beep…beep'

'Beep…beep…beep…beep…beep…beep…beep…beep…beep…beep…beep…beep'

'Damn alarm clock', Was generally Ayame's first thought in the morning; today was no exception. Slowly, her hand slid out from under her bed covers, and proceeded to whack the offending object until it stopped beeping.

Like her cousin, Ayame had never been much of a morning person. In her opinion, having to get out of a nice warm bed and out into the cold, was not her idea of fun. Gradually, in the five minutes after her alarm clock stopped it's wretched beeping, she eased herself up into a sitting position. She wiped the sleep out of her eyes and slipped into a dressing gown and slippers, before trudging off downstairs to help make breakfast.

It didn't take long for the women of the house to make a breakfast feast, they all enjoyed cooking, each in their own little way. Every morning Nanako and Ayame used the kitchen utensils as microphones and sung along to the radio while preparing the food. It was, they had discovered, a great way to wake up, and also a rather fun way to start the day.

Soon after they'd finished cooking, and the smell had started wafting up to the higher floors of the house, Nanjiro walked in, his mouth watering; 'as expected' thought Ayame, bidding 'Good morning' to her uncle. As usual, Ryoma was the last person to reach the table, his eyes still half closed, with Karupin at his heels. Rinko had already put out Karupin's food, so the cat happily started munching away as the family started to eat.

'So', Rinko started the conversation most mornings, 'What are you kids up to today?'

Echizen didn't answer, and Nanako had her mouth full, and although Nanjiro had the mental age of a child, Ayame guessed that the question was not aimed at him; so she was the only one left to answer.

'I'm going out with a friend, if that's okay auntie?'

'Ah! I knew it! You've been here a week and you already have a date! Who's the lucky man ehh Aya!' Nanjiro prompted, elbowing her in his excitement. Ayame just smiled sweetly at her uncle, telling him she knew he was insane, and she didn't care. 'Just an old friend uncle, Kunimitsu and I have a lot to discuss.'

Ryoma almost spat out the food he'd just spooned into his mouth. Although he supposed it was to be expected, he knew that the two of them had met in Germany. And it wasn't as if either of them was unattractive. He guessed he'd have to give them his blessing at some point in time.

'It's fine with us Aya', Rinko told the girl from across the table.

Nanjiro however didn't seem satisfied with Ayame's answer. 'You shouldn't be going with guys as friends at this age Ayame, I do not approve', he crossed his arms and pouted to prove his point. Nanako stifled her giggles by shoving another forkful of food into her mouth.

'I'll need to go change', Ayame informed them, before shoving her plate into the dishwasher and hop-skipping back up the stairs. She was looking forward today's lunch, but she had some errands to run first.

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It took Ayame all of about half an hour to get washed and dressed; and just over an hour to get all of her errands done, she quickly made her way to the café she'd agreed to meet her friend, and made it with a few minutes to spare. Kunimitsu, of course, was already there.

'Did you wait long?' She asked him, with a bright smile.

'No', He replied. 'Ever the talkative one…' she thought to herself, smirking while his back was turned. She then turned and followed him into the café.

The place they had chosen to meet for lunch was not too busy today, and they easily found atable near the back of the room to sit and eat at. As the two walked through the café, the glances that the girls threw at Tezuka weren't missed by Ayame. 'Get on with your own lunches', she thought, 'He's my date for today'. She didn't even know what had prompted that thought, she supposed it was merely the fact that she wanted uninterrupted quality time with him.

'So,' Tezuka started once they'd sat down, 'Are you going to answer my questions now?'

'My my Kunimitsu, you don't waste any time do you?' Ayame was grinning at him from across the table, 'Surely you didn't only come for answers, but to enjoy my company as well?'

She was teasing him, he realised, he had come for answers, and she knew that, but she also knew that he did enjoy spending time with her; she was one of the few girls he got along with. And he got along with her very well, if he said so himself. They'd spent a lot of time together in Germany. At the time he'd reasoned with himself that it was to be expected, seeing as how they were the only two Japanese people at the clinic; let alone the only two Japanese people who were the same age.

'Mada mada dane', she said, imitating Ryoma, and interrupting his thought process, 'I'll answer your questions, but you'll have to tell me what you want to know first.' She was smiling at him.

'So you can leave out the things I don't ask you?' He asked.

'Now, that's not much of a question is it Mitsu?

He glared at her, she was teasing him again. Ayame was finding his glaring more amusing than threatening though, he looked as if he was about to give her some laps to run. She flashed him her teeth, and waited for him to start his questioning, pulling her straw up to her mouth to take a drink.

'Why?' Tezuka asked, breaking the silence, 'Why Japan? Why Seigaku? And why now?'

'Maa, that's a lot of questions', She leaned back in her chair, 'I might as well start from the beginning then, nya?'

The girl leaned back in her chair, she closed her eyes, as if in reminiscence, a few moments later, she opened them again; she looked at him quite seriously, something Tezuka was not used to.

'Well then, I'd better start by reminding you of my childhood, hadn't I?' I might remind you that I was born with the name I was using in Germany, Ayame Rider. It was my father's surname of course. As you are already aware from our time in Germany; my parents died while I was quite young, and I was passed from foster home to foster home, before my uncle finally caught up with me. He was quickly made my legal guardian, and I began living with him and his two sons. One of whom was adopted. He later left, but he's not all that important to this story.' Ayame looked up at Tezuka, his expression was stoic, as per usual. 'As expected of you, Kunimitsu, you already know all of this', she thought to herself. She'd told him this herself, back in Germany.

'When Nanjiro and Rinko became my guardians, I changed my name toEchizen Ayame; however, some troublesome things like health insurance were still in my old name'.

'Ah, I understand now, that's why you were using your former identity in Germany.'

'Hai hai!' Came the reply, 'I'd imagine most people there don't know that I'm part of the Echizen family'. She'd certainly never told any of them. She'd only told Tezuka because of his ties with Ryoma.

'My name has been changed officially now though, in Japan, I am an Echizen, it was just the details in Europe that needed changing. Not that it matters anymore. I suppose you want to know why I moved back here?'

'Hai', Replied Tezuka, he looked more interested now; his face didn't give anything away, but Ayame had noticed he was leaning in a bit more. She herself had leant forward. She grabbed another bite to eat, before leaning back again.

'Well, as you know, since the beginning of this school year I've been in Germany, you know the reasons also. You also know that the Echizens moved here at the beginning of the year so that Ryoma could continue his education in the Japanese system. When I was told I could be released, Nanjiro decided that it would also be in my best interest to come to Japan with them, so I caught a plane, and here I am. And the reason for Seigaku? Because Nanjiro himself attended the school, that was the obvious choice of a school for Ryoma. It was for convenience more than anything that I was sent to Seigaku with him.' With that, Ayame finished and looked across at her friend. He was looking at her in interest.

'Is that all?' He asked softly.

'Is that all you want to know?' She shot back.

'Hai' He replied. He didn't know why, but there seemed to be something he hadn't asked, he wracked his brains, but the question wouldn't come. The two finished their meals in comfortable silence, and Ayame just grinned at Tezuka as he paid for it without comment.

It was quite late in the afternoon by the time they'd finished and paid for their food. The cold air outside was a big contrast to that of the warmth inside the little café. 'Fancy a walk?' Tezuka asked her.

She shouldn't have been surprised, she and Tezuka had been out many times in Germany; somehow it seemed different in Japan. Something had changed, but she wasn't sure what.

'Sure', she replied with a smile.

Their walk was mostly made in a comfortable silence, although Ayame was new to the area, so Tezuka made small talk on the landmarks they passed.

Somehow, their walk lasted a lot longer than either of them had expected. When Tezuka realised that it was already halfway through the evening, he offered to walk her home.

'Maa, what a gentleman you are Kunimitsu, and I thought you only walked me back 'home' again because we were living in the same place before.' She was smiling up at him.

'Hn', Was the only reply she received. Not that she minded, she'd put up with him for several months, whilst seeing him everyday in Germany, this was nothing new.

Tezuka, being the gentleman he is, walked her all the way to her front door. 'He's so sweet', she thought to herself, somehow wondering if he actually had a girlfriend.

'Today was fun, ne Kunimitsu?' She asked him, getting ready to go inside.

'Hai, I take it you'll be expecting lunch again sometime?' Ayame's smile widened.

'Hai hai, can't just leave a girl hanging Mitsu!' She giggled, but was silenced when he pulled her into his arms, and hugged her tight. She wrapped her arms round his back and squeezed him tight.

'Have a good evening' Tezuka told her, turning and walking back down the path.

'And you, Kunimitsu', Ayame replied softly, watching as he walked out through the gate. She quickly let herself in, and out of the cold.

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_**Reviews? xx**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: I have completely revised this story. I was bored, and it needed doing...I've changed some mistakes and taken some small things out of the story. And I have also added an extra chapter; which I had accidentally - not entirely sure how - missed out beforehand...which was troublesome...and I wanted to add it in...therefore you might want to read the story again; although you won't be missing overly much if you don't. Although I do like the story much better the way it is now...Thankies muchly to anyone who has reviewed in the past! :D WOopWoop! I love you all...and I hope you enjoy the new version of the story...**_

_**Song for this chapter: Ever Ever After (What else??) - Carrie Underwood  
**_

_**Chapter 6: Fairytales  
**_

'Story beginnings, fairytales coming true!' Nanako yelled into the whisk, spinning across the middle of the room.

'Deep down inside we wanna believe they still!' Rinko joined in, spatula in hand.

'In out secretest heart, it's our favourite part of the story! Let's just admit we all wanna make it to!' Ayame yelled into a spoon, standing in the middle of the kitchen table.

'EVER EVER AFTER!' The trio screamed in unison. Seconds later they were all collapsed on the floor, giggling like kids again. Their songs always seemed to end this way.

Breakfast was finished about half an hour (or six songs) later. At this point in time, the male members of the house came down and joined them for breakfast. Throughout which a symphony of slurps, 'gobbles', and burps could be heard.

It was twenty minutes later when the sun came up, and the youngest two members of the household headed out for school, inevitably meeting up with the rest of the boys regulars on the way there, Momo being the first of course.

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The Tezuka family, as per usual, all woke up very early and ate breakfast together, almost in complete silence. It was routine, it happened every day the same way. This was before Tezuka Kunimitsu went and got ready for school, and walked along alone before he met up with his tennis team, plus one.

The local gossip of the day, Tezuka found out on his journey to school was that Tomo and Horio had finally got it together. He could care less, in all honesty. Nevertheless, Tezuka had found it hard to stifle a laugh at Ryoma's expression, as, to the freshman's horror, the regulars started making bets on how long it'd be before him and Ruzaki Sakuno got it together. The person responsible for starting the betting was none other than Ryoma's closest pal; Momoshiro.

'Oh well', Tezuka sighed, 'At least they're teasing him, not trying to break his arms'.

The regulars hadn't grown board of the conversation by the time they could see school in the distance. And Tezuka noted that even Ayame was playing an active part in the conversation; despite the fact that she'd been the person who'd bet on 'never', for which she'd been rewarded with a rare smile from Ryoma. The freshman was currently keeping his head down, and looking at the floor as though he thought it was immensely interesting.

All in all, Tezuka thought to himself, the walk to school was fairly uneventful.

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'Ayame chan! You're so funny!' Squealed Rin, clutching at her chest as she laughed. Ayame was surprised she'd managed to speak at all. The other girls around her were nodding their heads in agreement; wiping the tears of laughter from their eyes.

Sakura was the first to recover. 'What did he do then, Ayame chan?' she squeaked out, in her far-too-high voice.

'Maa', Ayame scratched her head, looking thoughtful, before replying, 'He stared at her, as if she was talking gobbledegook; before tilting his hat and saying-'

'Mada mada dane Ayame, I'd rather you didn't tell people stories about me.'

The girls all turned round; the majority looked embarrassed, and a couple were trying unsuccessfully not to let the giggles escape. Ayame turned and grinned at her cousin, flashing her teeth at him.

'Maa, Ryoma, you took the words right out of my mouth.'

It was too much. Sakura cracked, spluttering with laughter, holding her sides as she doubled over, before looking up at the boy. A crimson blush spread across her face, and she bolted off down the corridor.

'Now look what you've done', Ayame sighed, 'You scared her off Ryo chan'. She turned to Ryoma with a small smile on her face; which reminded him all too much of Fuji sempai. His cousin walked towards him slowly, slid her arm through his, and pulled him off down the corridor, bidding goodbye to her friends over her shoulder.

When they were out of hearing distance, Ryoma turned to Ayame and told her 'I'd rather you didn't tell people stories about me.'

'Maa', she smiled, but you're too cute Ryo chan'.

A quiet 'Hn' was the only reply she got.

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It was a few weeks after he'd got the present that Tezuka finally opened it. The little blue box had been hidden under paperwork on his desk since the day he'd gotten it. He had, of course, forgotten all about it. He hadn't ever accepted Valentine 's Day gifts before, but he soon remembered that he'd had a bit of a dilemma about opening this particular one.

'You might want to open that, Tezuka Buchou'. Ryoma had told him. He should have known who it was from as soon as he'd said that. In all honesty, he probably should have realised when Ryoma had mentioned that the girl had threatened to make his life a living hell should Tezuka not receive it. He hadn't even made the link between them.

Tezuka opened the letter first. Chuckling softly to himself at some of the things she'd written, when she talked about 'this Valentine's malarkey', the 'mountain of gifts' she'd predicted he would receive, and about his 'mob of obsessive fangirls'.

He soon pushed it aside to open the present. It obviously wasn't chocolate, because she'd told him in his letter that 'it isn't good to buy a tennis player chocolate for Valentine's, if you buy him too much and he eats it, he might get fat and start being crap at tennis, right?' And the other fact that 'I know you don't even like chocolate'; somehow, she'd managed to remember even the silliest little details about him, finer points that he didn't even remember telling her.

He opened the present rather carefully, and was truly surprised at what she'd gotten him. Two small boxes fell out of the package. 'Grip tape', he thought to himself, eyes widening. Before laughing out loud, there was another note inside, 'Dearest Kunimitsu, I look forward to seeing you use this to kick someone's ass. I'll know if you use it, I specifically chose the colour purple. Aya'. He snorted, 'Baka', he thought. It was his favourite type of grip tape as well. She either knew him far too well, or had taken an extremely lucky guess. He looked across the room at his tennis racquet and smiled.

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_**Reviews? xx**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: I have completely revised this story. I was bored, and it needed doing...I've changed some mistakes and taken some small things out of the story. And I have also added an extra chapter; which I had accidentally - not entirely sure how - missed out beforehand...which was troublesome...and I wanted to add it in...therefore you might want to read the story again; although you won't be missing overly much if you don't. Although I do like the story much better the way it is now...Thankies muchly to anyone who has reviewed in the past! :D WOopWoop! I love you all...and I hope you enjoy the new version of the story...**_

_**Song for this chapter: Dark Blue - Jack's Mannequin (if you don't know who they are...check them out...NOW! They're AMAZINGGG :D  
**_

_**Chapter 7: Blue  
**_

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Contrary to popular belief, Tezuka Kunimitsu, like all other middle school students, sometimes had 'off days'. Today happened to be one such day; not that anyone else would realise. Said tennis captain had his nose buried in a book - like he so commonly did - and appeared to be far, far away in studyland. This was not true however; Tezuka Kunimitsu was far, far away in dreamland instead.  
His ponderings and musings were not, as you would have thought, on tennis, and or school. They were all centered around a certain redhead who was sitting beside him at this very moment; her own nose burried in a book. However, he knew for a fact that she was acctually reading the book, as he could see her lips moving as she read the words; the way she did when she was concentrating. It appeared that somebody hadn't studied for today's math test...  
His thoughts today had been inspired by his mother, who, once she had discovered it was a girl he had met up with last weekend, had launched into full 'mother' mode; making a huge speech about bringing the girl home to meet her, and asking a barrage of questions that Tezuka didn't feel completely comfortable about answering. The warning bells had gone off in his head though, when she had called in Tezuka's father, claiming that the men needed to have a 'little chat'; and he had, in a truly 'un-Tezuka-like' manor, legged it out of the door and half the way to school, causing him to be suspiciously early - even for him.  
Tezuka Kunimitsu, even being emotional as a rock, as he generally was, was not completely blind to the fact that his mother believed the girl he had met with to be his 'girlfriend'. However, when he tried to inform her that this was definitely not so, the foreign word had got stuck in his throat, and he had stumbled over it quite badly. He assumed this was because he had never, in his life, said the word out loud before. Though Ayame was always insistent that there were many girls who would love to be in such a position. As if he didn't know. He wasn't vain, but he wasn't blind, deaf, and stupid either. He had noticed that his fanclub was quite a lot bigger than most others in the school; even Fuji's, it would seem, didn't rival it. Not that he knew why; at least Fuji was nice to the girls - he even knew some of them by their first names, and talked to them on occasions. Tezuka remained stoic and distant to most girls in hopes of them giving up, and going away - preferably to join one of the other regulars fanclubs. However, the one time he had suggested to a girl that perhaps Fuji would be a better option, she had burst in to tears and run away. Tezuka had never been particularly apt to these girl's feelings, as Fuji, and on occasions, Oishi, had informed him.  
Tezuka sighed; he never could understand girls, or women. Even his mother was a bit of a mystery to him. She didn't seem to realise, for example, that not every girl he saw, or met up with, was his 'girlfriend'. Not that he met up with girls very often. To be honest, the only girl he had met up with, aside from being asked to - so they could confess to him - was Ayame. Ayame who had often told him that if he would 'break his stoic facade' during school hours, he would probably have even more female attention. Something Tezuka definitely did not want. He had informed her so. The last thing he needed was more screaming, squealing, and squeeking fangirls on his back. In fact; the only girls Tezuka thought he wouldn't mind chasing him, were the ones who probably never would. Images of violent, fangirl hating, Tezuka hating, regular hating, tennis hating girls suddenly filled Tezuka's mind; and he shook his head in order to be rid of them. On second thoughts, perhaps it was only the one girl whom he would mind chasing him.  
He looked over at the girl next to him; her hair was once again spilling all over her desk, from where she had pushed it out of her way in order to read her book; his lips twitched upwards at this. He had often asked her why she did not just tie it up. She had never given him a straight answer - she had always, in fact, given him a different answer from the last time. Tezuka had always found this very odd; but girls will be girls, and Ayame wasn't exactly ordinary - even for a girl.  
He looked through the gaps in her hair, to see her lips moving around the words as she tried to hurriedly remember them. She was cramming for the test after lunch, he knew. He had seen her get the book out from the corner of his eye. It was 'Advanced Mathematics'. He, being the reliable student he was, had already studied for the test, for several nights this week, and he was confident he would get his usual 100 score on the afternoon's test. He also knew that, despite not studying properly, as she should have done, Ayame would probably get a high score too; she was, like him, exceptionally smart. He decided though, that he ought to help her out during lunch, so that she would have a chance of improving her mark a little anyway. They had studied together in the past after all; in Germany.  
Well, Tezuka thought, it was more like he studied, and she had done 'as little as humanly possible, whilst trying to get him to do the same. He realised now, with the benefit of hindsight, that she probably knew she would not be returning to America to go to school, and had decided that she didn't need to do overly much work wise, as she would never hand it in. It was always useful to study though, he knew. He also knew, that because of her intelligence, that at the end of the year, she would probably study a lot harder than she was now, and would probably come out with a top grade; such as he was hoping to get.  
He glanced over at her again, and thought about what his mother had said to him, 'you must bring her over here so that I can meet her Kunimitsu!' she had said, rather loudly. When he thought about it, in all honesty, he realised that Ayame was exactly the sort of girl he would bring home; unlike those awful screaming fangirls of his, who would most likely just be a complete embarrassment to him. Ayame would most likely be polite, and well spoken, as she usually was; and would also, in all probability, get along very well with his mother. Though he was not exactly sure what sort of girl his mother would actually get along with - having never brought one home before.  
Although Tezuka did realise that his mother managed to, somehow, put up with his cousins; Rinko and Ringo, who were the reason that Tezkuka came to the realisation that fangirls were terribly annoying; even if they weren't your fangirls. Both did the whole high pitched squealing act, and talked about only boys. He didn't think he'd managed to have a decent conversation, or even a conversation with them, since they were around ten years old; the oldest they had been without an obsession over boys. They also talked a lot about make up - something Tezuka was definitely not very well educated about; though he was sure if he ever did talk to them, they would leave him with a diploma in the subject. He had decided a long while ago, to just avoid them, and if he had to be near them, to just not talk. They had tried to get him to talk on several occasions since he had come to this decision - asking him what boys liked, and such; but he had stuck to his guns and ignored them. He had told Ayame about his two cousins once in Germany, after his mother had offered - threatened - to bring them over for a visit. Ayame had laughed a lot at his 'clever plan' and thus he had never brought up the topic again.  
He also realised, looking at Ayame, that she could probably win his mother, and the rest of his family, over quite easily, just by smiling. He had always known that the girl had a very nice smile. He was sure, though, that he had only realised this since she smiled a lot. And by a lot, he meant, pretty much all of the time. Even now, studying hard, she had a small smile on her lips - although that might just be the way she was biting her lip.  
He could also judge that he would get along well with his family from the fact that she was, it had to be said, quite popular; even after such a short time at the school. Although he realised, with annoyance, that some of her so-called 'friends' could just be leeching off of her popularity, or the fact that she was good friends with him, and the rest of the tennis regulars, or the fact that she was an exceptionally close relative to Ryoma - and thus had some - many - rather embarrassing stories about the boy.  
Not that he was complaining, he'd never admit it, but in Germany they had both had a good laugh at the poor first year's expense.  
He also realised, when he thought about it; that although the girl was intelligent, talented, and popular; she was very modest. She did not show off, like a lot of the girls in the class did, to him and the rest of the regulars. Although this might just be because she was good friends with them - and didn't need to. However; she did show off her embarrassing stories about Ryoma a little - he knew; having heard her retelling them for the benefit of the girls in their class. Although this might just be because she enjoyed telling them; or talking about her cousin, or maybe just embarrassing him. Beneath it all, he knew that she was very fond of the 'grumpy samurai' as she called him.  
Although she did have a lot of friends at the school; Tezuka also noticed that she kept only a few very close to her; keeping others at a bit of a distance. Mainly, she stayed close to the tennis regulars; and a couple of choice 'girlfriends', whom, Tezuka was pleased to note, were not as fangirlish as most of the population of Seigaku. Then again, they may have just been in somebody else's fan club. He knew for a fact that the Sakura girl liked Fuji; at least; she had last year.  
On the subject of Fuji, and fan girls, he wondered sometimes if maybe Ayame was a fan girl to one of the regulars; and was just more discreet about the fact. She could be in Fuji's fan club; or Oishi's, or Eiji's, or Momo's...or any of their fan groups...well, aside from Ryoma's. When he looked at her, however, he never got that feeling. She interacted with them all in the same way. In a friendly way. She hung out with Momo and Ryoma a lot more than the other regulars though - walking to and from school with them was sure to let her get to know Momo quite well. Tezuka knew the two of them were very good friends, always joking and larking around together. She had also been known to hang out with Eiji and Fuji after school sometimes; the two boys were best friends afterall; and she had hung out with them at the cinema, or at the ice cream parlour in several occasions. She had even hung out with Kaido quite a lot - after they had discovered their mutual love of running.  
Tezuka realised at this moment that it was probably him that she had seen least; although he had always considered himself her 'best' friend in the regulars. He now realised that maybe she had been more friendly with the others; even though they hadn't spent any number of months with her in rehab, in a foreign country, with no other Japanese members of the community. He also realised now, that he missed her quite a lot. It was definitely not the same, being here with her, and not seeing her for so many hours in a day. He decided that he needed to correct this; just in case their friendship was taking a turn for the worst. He would have to ask her if she wanted to hang out after school today.  
Maybe his mother would meet her after all.

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_**Reviews? xx**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N: I have completely revised this story. I was bored, and it needed doing...I've changed some mistakes and taken some small things out of the story. And I have also added an extra chapter; which I had accidentally - not entirely sure how - missed out beforehand...which was troublesome...and I wanted to add it in...therefore you might want to read the story again; although you won't be missing overly much if you don't. Although I do like the story much better the way it is now...Thankies muchly to anyone who has reviewed in the past! :D WOopWoop! I love you all...and I hope you enjoy the new version of the story...**_

_**Song for this chapter: God Must Hate Me - Simple Plan  
**_

_**Chapter 8: Of Tests and Tribulations  
**_

During the lunch hour, as he had planned to, Tezuka offered to help Ayame with her work; and by the end of the lunch hour, both of them were feeling pretty confident about the test – whilst other students – those who had not studied, were running around like heedless chickens. Ayame almost felt like laughing at their rushed antics, but stayed quiet on the basis that Tezuka might call her a hypocrite.

And so it happened that five minutes before the bell for maths; she and Tezuka were sitting together at their tables, chatting about the forthcoming days; trying to keep their minds of the forthcoming test. The day they were currently talking about was two days away; Wednesday, when they would have an English test – the test that Ayame was most confident about; having spent so much time in England and America in her youth. However; it was probably the test that worried Tezuka the most; and for some reason, he told her so.

"Ma, don't be silly Kunimitsu", she told him with a grin, "aside from me I bet you're the best person at English here".

"Ah", was the only reply she got.

"Okay, okay", she continued, as if he hadn't blanked her; which he hadn't – he was just unsociable and bad at voicing things, "since you helped me today, I'll give you some help for the English test. Fair?"

"Hai", he replied, giving her a rare smile. Maybe this would turn out to be a good thing; he could resurrect their old friendship.

"Would you like to come to my house this evening to study?" he asked. Yes; it looked like his mother would meet her.

"Sure", she replied; "you don't have tennis tonight, right?"

"Nada"

"Okay then, I'll meet you here after school then!" Tezuka suddenly had a thought, about what his mother would say when he brought her home;

"I ought to tell you that - "

That's when the bell rang, and the maths test started.

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Games lessons had happened after maths, so Tezuka hadn't seen Ayame since she'd winked and grinned at him before walking out of the classroom at the end of said subject. Obviously she had done well on the test – or believed she had. Most likely the first, knowing her.

The sport for both the senior boys and girls had been running; although the boys had taken cross country; while the girls had taken the track. This had probably put Ayame in a good mood; Tezuka hoped it had; since he knew she had a thing for running. She loved the idea of running her stress away; or so she said.

Walking into the classroom after school was the first time he had seen her in a while; walking towards the door of the classroom; he could see her bent over to grab her books, shoving them in her bag. He watched from the doorway, as she stood up and turned around; her hair swung around her like a veil; and her bag whacked her leg as she turned. Her face was a little red from the exercise that she had been doing last lesson; and she had a surprised look in her eyes. He was about to walk up to her and say 'Hello', when he saw why she looked so surprised.

There was a boy approaching her; who had obviously been watching her from part of the classroom Tezuka couldn't see. He recognised the boy as Akio, from class 3B, and he wondered what he was doing there. Ayame had started to smile at the boy; so Tezuka guessed that she knew him. He was just about to walk in and see if Ayame was ready to go, when he heard the boy start to talk.  
"Um, hi Echizen san", he said; turning his face away from her to look at the floor a little.

"Hello Akio – chan" she said brightly, adjusting her bag strap on her shoulder slightly.

"Um, I was wondering, I mean, I really like you Echizen san, and I was wondering, ifmaybeyouwantedtobemygirlfriend". The boy was looking at her again; he'd said the last part of his sentence so fast that Tezuka wondered if Ayame had even heard it. Though he felt an unfamiliar pang in his chest when the boy had spoken. He wondered if it had anything to do with the food at lunch today; it did look a little off.

He watched, stepping backwards from the door, with the boy, Akio, as Ayame opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again and started to speak; suddenly, he felt quite interested in her answer; and even found himself leaning forward a bit, so as to hear what she had to say.

"I'm, well, I'm flattered Akio", the boy's head jerked up to face her completely now; seemingly excited at her answer – but it fell when she started to speak again; her hands fiddling with her bag, her head turning away from him; whilst she blushed, and told him; "But I'm really sorry, I can't be your girlfriend".

She turned back and looked at the boy again, still blushing; she looked really quite embarrassed; although Tezuka thought she had no reason to be – he turned down girls all the time; and he figured she'd be used to it – there were, after all, quite a lot of guys in the school that liked her.

He watched as she started to walk past Akio, with her head down, and as she muttered a quick 'sorry' as she passed. Before, unexpectedly, he felt himself walking down the corridor a bit, before turning around; he suddenly realised he didn't want her to know that he had witnessed this scene.

However; even a few feet from the door of the class, he could still hear Akio's next words; which shocked him a little bit; and made him stop shock still in the middle of the corridor.

"It's because you like that other guy isn't it? That Tezuka Kunimitsu. You're new here so you probably don't know right? That guy…that guy doesn't think anyone is good enough for him!"

The boy had almost yelled it, so Tezuka felt that it wasn't something he shouldn't have heard exactly; so it definitely wasn't guilt he felt when he heard those words. It wasn't even unhappiness that someone thought badly of him; to be honest; he couldn't care less what this guy thought; he'd never even met him before, and only knew of him in passing.  
Therefore, he realised, it must have been the words that had had such an effect on him. What the guy – Akio – had said, wasn't true. He didn't think that no one was good enough for him. He just, well, he didn't like anyone like that. Why would you be attracted to the girls who squealed every time you walked past, and gave the tennis club a lot of hassle just because you were involved in it?

Then he remembered what else the boy had said, 'It's because you like that other guy isn't it?'  
She didn't like him like that did she? No, the idea was ridiculous; they were just very good friends – he obviously didn't know that they had spent a lot of time together in Germany. Hell, he'd be surprised if this stranger knew he'd even been to Germany. The idea of her liking him was preposterous; surely she had someone else to like; someone more like her; someone more datable.

'Datable?' He thought to himself, surprised. In all honesty, he'd never even considered the idea of dating – well, not seriously, only in some random musings when he had nothing else to think of; which was very rare; and it was usually only over the idea of how awful it would be to date one of his fan girls. He wasn't sure at all about the prospect of dating; and he definitely had never thought of himself as datable, or not datable, as the case may be. Was he really that bad?  
He was lost in his thoughts still, when he realised that Ayame was replying. He leaned closer to the wall in order to hear what she was saying; whilst inwardly berating himself for eavesdropping – he knew better.

"I'd rather you didn't think on these things Akio; Tezuka is…a good friend", she told him, "He is nothing more".

Tezuka wasn't entirely prepared for the pang he felt when he heard these words. He thought he would be glad, happy even, if she thought of him as a 'good friend' and especially 'nothing more', but apparently not. Surely they were just good friends though? They were two friends brought together by difficult circumstances in Germany. He was sure he would have even spoken to a fan girl in Germany, if there was no one else around. It just happened by chance that the person he would befriend there would be Ayame; someone who would only ever think of him as a 'good friend' and 'nothing more'.

It was worrying Tezuka now; he had never felt like this before. He was confused – that was for sure. He felt confused, and, well, upset. He wasn't quite sure why; he also wasn't quite sure why he felt so…disappointed. Surely he didn't feel rejected? He'd seen the looks on girl's faces as he turned them away; and suddenly he felt quite sure that was the look he was sporting now. He wasn't entirely sure why.

This was Ayame; his good friend Ayame; surely he couldn't have, well, feelings for her?

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Tezuka quickly walked to the end of the corridor again, and started walking back down – he knew he, probably most certainly, should not have heard what that Akio kid had said. By the time he reached the middle of the corridor, he could see Ayame walking out of the classroom; quite quickly, with her head bowed, so that her hair fell over the front of his face.  
He stopped walking, and waited for her to reach him, and held out his arm to stop her as she attempted to walk past him.  
"Ayame", he said, looking down at her.

She tilted her head up; her hair fell down her back again, away from her face, and she blinked up at him – 'she must have been deep in thought', he thought to himself, 'she didn't even see me here'.

"Ah, I'm sorry Kunimitsu," she said, smiling sadly up at him, "I was a bit lost in thought!" She reached up and rubbed the back of her head, an uncharacteristic blush spreading across her cheeks.

"Ah", he replied, "shall we go?"

"Hai!"

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The journey home was unusually quiet; especially where Ayame was involved; Tezuka supposed she was thinking about the events that had happened in the classroom earlier on that day; he certainly was. He was still attempting to sort out his feelings. He glanced towards her every now and then; she held quite a pained expression; which was also rather unusual, as if she was trying to think over something really hard. She looked quite determined as well. Tezuka couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking about.

It was after they had exited the train, when he broke the silence; they only had a few blocks to travel before they got to his house after all; and he did need to warn her about his mother; who may, or may not be on the warpath about his assumed 'girlfriend'. He felt his collar getting tight at the word.

"Ah, Ayame, about my mother; she might, ahem, well…" he started; trying to bring himself to say what he needed to; and being unsuccessful.

"Get the wrong end of the stick?" she finished for him. He turned to find her looking up at him; she had laugher in her eyes, and a small smile on her face at the idea.

He turned to look forwards again; they could see his house from here. "Hai", he said quietly. He heard her laugh softly from his side; and turned to look at her again; her hand was over her mouth and she was chuckling softly. "Don't worry Kunimitsu", she told him, grinning, "I'll be the perfect girlfriend tonight!"

Something told him that she was planning something, she had a rather mischievous smile, which caused him to swallow quite audibly when he turned back towards his house. Suddenly it seemed Ayame's footsteps had become faster; and somewhat more bouncy; more like usual. He sighed; she seemed to have recovered from earlier; that was good. He quickly lengthened his strides to catch up with her.

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_**Reviews? xx**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N: I have completely revised this story. I was bored, and it needed doing...I've changed some mistakes and taken some small things out of the story. And I have also added an extra chapter; which I had accidentally - not entirely sure how - missed out beforehand...which was troublesome...and I wanted to add it in...therefore you might want to read the story again; although you won't be missing overly much if you don't. Although I do like the story much better the way it is now...Thankies muchly to anyone who has reviewed in the past! :D WOopWoop! I love you all...and I hope you enjoy the new version of the story...**_

_**Song for this chapter: (There are two this time) First is: My World - SR - 71, the second is: Out of My League - Stephen Speaks (I love them BOTH LOTS)  
**_

_**Chapter 9: Her hair and her eyes**_

Dinner at the Tezuka household, Ayame decided, had quickly become her most favourite memory yet.

She knew Kunimitsu had been listening earlier, to her conversation with Akio. She had seen him waiting; and although she had seen him back away from the door when the boy started talking about dating; she also knew that the boy was curious by nature; and, although she was sure he thought it was wrong himself; she guessed he would be eavesdropping.

She hadn't really cared of course; not at first; it was inevitable that she would turn Akio down, Kunimitsu himself should have known that – surely he knew her well enough to know that. To be honest, she would turn down most of the guys in the school; the only ones she got along with well at all were the regulars, in all honesty. She barely even knew Akio. Aside, that is, from several brief occasions when she had spoken with him about work, and, she thought, once about tennis. But those conversations were very brief; she had no idea when she'd given him the impression that she liked him; let alone in that way.

However, the conversation had gotten rather awkward when Akio had yelled that out. She'd had to think her answer over very thoroughly, and very quickly. In all honesty; she had never thought about Tezuka Kunimitsu like that before. She knew, of course, that he had a huge fan club, but also that he was called 'untouchable' by most of the girls in the school. She realised quickly, that they had only ever been on the receiving end of his 'stoic' personality. They definitely did not know him as well as she did. She'd also heard horror stories, as she called them, of the things he had said to girls. Even he, the emotional novice, should have known that suggesting another boy to lust after was not the smartest thing to do. But, although she hadn't told the girls who had informed her of this; she had gotten a good laugh out of some of the things her friend had said. Sometimes he really was an idiot. Better yet; sometimes, he really was just like her cousin. This thought always did bring a grin to her face.

In the end, she'd had to tell Akio that Tezuka was a good friend, and nothing more. Though she had a difficult time explaining to herself exactly why that was such an upsetting idea. When she had left the classroom, she was still thinking this to herself; and had totally forgotten about her friend waiting outside, until she walked headlong into his arm, held out to stop her.

He'd obviously walked down the corridor, to pretend he hadn't been listening – although the look on his face told her that he had been. It wasn't his usual poker face; he looked rather…confused. Although she had no idea why; she had merely spoken the truth – or what she believed to be the truth, to Akio. She doubted that the stoic boy would ever be interested in her; and she herself wasn't sure how she felt about him; aside from the fact that he was unquestionably her best friend. She doubted he felt the same way; or knew that she felt this way; but she didn't care, he was her best friend ever.

On the train ride home, she snuck quite a few glances at her silent companion through the gaps in her hair. She was sure he would notice; but he didn't say anything if he did. He looked deep in thought; like she was. She supposed that he was going over the maths paper in his head; she knew that he was very serious about his grades after all. It was a very Tezuka-like thing to do – she knew he'd done it before; she had witnessed it – and also bugged him about it for weeks after.

She'd known already that he was attractive, of course; the first time she saw him, from across the cafeteria at the rehab centre. 'I'm going to go see the brooding hero', she'd told her friends, as she went to sit with him. She still thought of him like that. He was the unsociable, yet insatiably attractive hero of the story that every girl would fall for when they saw a movie. She wondered if he knew that this was the reason he had so many fans. Probably not; guys in general did not understand a girl's attraction with the tragic, sad, hero. Tezuka had probably missed it altogether.

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She wasn't sure, while they road the train, whether she should break the silence or not. But in the end, she decided to just let him brood. She wondered what he had thought of her conversation with Akio. For some reason, she was slightly worried about his opinions on it. She wasn't entirely sure why; but she was anyway. She decided to push these feelings aside for the time being though, and settled for day dreaming the rest of the train ride away.

When her friend broke the silence, Ayame almost laughed at what he had to say; in fact, she did end up laughing; it was such a funny idea to her; his mother getting the wrong end of the stick about her and Kunimitsu. She wondered if his mother knew about them meeting up last weekend; or in Germany, for that matter.

She knew that Kunimitsu lived with his mother, father, and grandfather in a Japanese style house; and that Kunimitsu got on especially well with his grandfather – he had been his idol as a child, and was the one to teach him to play tennis in the first place.

She decided, just before they reached the house, that she would have some revenge on her friend; to teach him a lesson about eavesdropping on her conversations; and so she followed her friend into her house with a big grin on her face.

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"I'm home!" Tezuka called, slipping out of his shoes, and placing them on the rack by the door.

"Sorry for the intrusion!" Ayame called out from behind him, mirroring his actions regarding her shoes.

A woman with long brown hair, whom Ayame assumed to be her friend's mother, rushed into the hallway from the end room at their greeting. Ayame thought she looked a little flustered.

"Kunimitsu!" the woman said loudly, in a scolding tone of voice, "you didn't tell me you were bringing her home today!" She rushed forwards, pushing past her son as he began to say "Mother, this is - "

Ayame almost laughed. The woman came up to her and pulled her into a big hug. The woman smelt pleasantly of flowers, and her hug was very motherly. Ayame liked her immediately.

"It's so nice to finally meet you!" The woman gushed, smiling brightly at Ayame, to which the girl smiled back.  
"And you Tezuka san", she replied, truthfully, "Kunimitsu's told me a lot about you!" she grinned; looking towards her friend, who was…was he blushing?!

The woman in front of her looked taken a bit aback. She blushed slightly, and her smile widened. "Only good things I hope?" she joked.

"The best", Ayame replied.

"Oh Kunimitsu!" the woman cried, flinging her arms around her son, and hugging him tightly. 'Yep', Ayame thought, 'Definitely blushing'. She restrained her smirk, and retained her smile.

It was then that the cooker started beeping. "Oh!" Kunimitsu's mother cried out, before rushing back off to the kitchen.  
Kunimitsu himself turned back to us; he seemed to have his blush under control now, and gestured to the stairs. "Shall we?" he asked.

"Sure", she replied, grinning, and following him up the stairs and into his room; which was, she thought, very Tezuka-ish. It was perfectly neat and tidy – the sort of neat and tidy you see on T.V. but can never recreate in your own home. It seemed that Kunimitsu, though, had managed to recreate it.

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Tezuka headed to his desk, and put his bag down, before pulling out his books and sitting down on his chair; swivelling it around to face Ayame; who had plopped herself down on his bed, and pulled her legs up, so that she was sitting cross legged.

"Tezuka san is lovely", she told him, smiling again.

"Ah, but I think she did, er - "

"Get the wrong end of the stick?" Ayame finished for him again, grinning.

"Hai", Tezuka replied, looking at her suspiciously. "Don't tell me you planned that?" he asked; suddenly aspirated. So that

was her plan. Ayame merely laughed.

"Of course", she said, looking innocent, "It'll be fun!"

"In what way?" he asked her.

"I mean fun for me"

"How so?"

"I get to watch you squirm."

"Ah. And that is your idea of fun?"

"Partly. And partly my idea of revenge."

"Revenge for what, may I ask?"

"Maybe if you eavesdrop on another one of my conversations, you'll find out."

'Right', he thought, 'she knows. But how?'

His face must have betrayed his thoughts, because she spoke up then.

"Ma, it's okay Mitsu chan", she said, "I'll forgive you. You didn't hear anything you didn't already know after all."  
He looked over at her. It seemed she had decided to get comfortable. She was now laying down on her back, with her arms behind her head; looking up at the ceiling.

"Are you sure about that?" he asked quietly. Not realising his mistake until he had finished talking. He turned his head away from her to look at his books. But he heard her turn over, guessing she had turned to face him.  
"What do you mean?" she asked him. Turning back he saw that she had indeed turned towards him. She was now laying on her side, leaning her neck on her hand.

"Nothing", he answered quickly; keeping his poker face up.

"Hmm", she replied, she'd cottoned on already, it seemed. "What's wrong Kunimitsu? I know you, and there is something wrong."

You don't say; he thought to himself. He pretended to be looking down at his books for a few moments; whilst he thought up his next words carefully. He was sure she would laugh at him for it; but he guessed a problem shared was a problem half solved – or whatever the phrase was.

He turned to look at her again; she was still staring at him from the bed. She looked more than a little concerned. He almost smiled at her; he was glad he had someone like her as a friend – he doubted he'd ever have been able to tell Oishi anything like this; and not just because he'd tell Eiji and Eiji would tell everyone. Merely because he wasn't, well, understanding enough; at least; that's what he supposed.

"I was just thinking a little bit recently", he started. He watched as she adjusted her position, bringing her hands up to her chin, and resting her chin on her fists, turning towards him slightly more. "What I mean to say is", he carried on, pinching the bridge of his nose, as he prepared to get this over and done with, "am I really, well, un-datable?"  
Her eyes were wide with surprise for a moment, before they narrowed in thought. She was obviously thinking over her answer carefully.

"You can just tell me straight out if you think I am", he told her, feeling more confident; before realising how bold he was being, and turning back to the books he was meant to be studying. He sat like that, looking at the words, but taking nothing in, before he heard her getting off the bed. Her feet touching the floor lightly, and her footsteps coming towards him.  
He concentrated on the books in front of him, keeping his eyes on the page, as he heard her pause behind him. He didn't exactly understand why, but he could suddenly hear his heart beating, hard and fast. Then he felt her move a bit, and lean over him to…

….ruffle his hair so hard his glassed fell off onto the desk before him.

"Mada mada dane, baka!" she scolded him rather loudly. "If you were so undesirable as a boyfriend, do you really think you'd have so many fan girls, Tezuka – sama?"

He was shocked. He quickly picked up his glasses, shoved them back on, and looked up at her. She was now sitting on the desk in front of him. She was smiling at him again.

"You really are a baka", she told him, leaning down to look him in the face. Before she leant back, then slid off the desk. She started walking back towards the bed, but stopped on the way to lean down and give him a kiss on the cheek, which, for some unknown reason, caused him to blush and reach up to where her lips had touched him. He looked over at her; she was sitting on the bed again; laughing.

"Come here you baka", she ordered him. He got up and walked towards her, not quite sure what to expect, as he reached her, she stood up on the bed, leaned down, and wrapped her arms around him; embracing him in a giant hug. He leant in towards her as well, after several moments, and wrapped his arms around her back; feeling her silky hair slide against his arms.

She smelt like strawberries, was the first thing Tezuka noticed, as they stood there in that embrace. Her hair tickled his cheek, and her breath was cool on his neck; sending shivers down his spine. He couldn't bring himself to care though, as he stood there holding her. He realised then that he didn't really wanted this to end. She felt warm, and soft against him. He liked the feeling of her being there.

Then he felt her begin to pull away; but he couldn't let her go. He pulled her more tightly into his arms, and lifted her off the bed; swinging her around a few times. By the end she was laughing, and he put her down on the floor gently; not letting go until he was sure that she was down safely; and that he felt he had to. Then he drew up to his full height; almost a head above her, and looked down at her laughing face; her eyes looking up at him, sparkling, as she laughed.  
He smiled back at her, before he started laughing, though not for the same reasons. He laughed back in that moment, because it was then that he realised he was in love with her.

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_**Reviews? xx**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N: I have completely revised this story. I was bored, and it needed doing...I've changed some mistakes and taken some small things out of the story. And I have also added an extra chapter; which I had accidentally - not entirely sure how - missed out beforehand...which was troublesome...and I wanted to add it in...therefore you might want to read the story again; although you won't be missing overly much if you don't. Although I do like the story much better the way it is now...Thankies muchly to anyone who has reviewed in the past! :D WOopWoop! I love you all...and I hope you enjoy the new version of the story...**_

_**Song for this chapter: Dreaming of you - Seleena  
**_

_**Chapter 10: Trying hard to make it through the night**_

After Tezuka's awkward questions about being 'datable'; Ayame's time at the Tezuka residence had been extremely fun. They had studied the English language for a long while afterwards; and she had made sure he knew how to say 'I am datable', before they had finished. Afterwards, they were called down by Kunimitsu's mother, who quizzed her all the way through dinner; whilst her father, and husband, berated, and laughed at her. Ayame didn't mind a bit though; she found her questions rather amusing. Her short stay in the Tezuka household had told her that the Tezuka family was full of wonderful, welcoming people. She hoped she would get the chance to visit more often in the future. Kunimitsu had even made the studying part fun.

Being the kind man he was, Tezuka's father; who had asked her to call him Katsuro, rather than Tezuka san, had even driven her home afterwards. Something she was somewhat grateful for; seeing as she would rather not ask Nanjiro to drive her home – he might have wanted to come in and introduce himself – that would be quite embarrassing, to say the least.

Still putting on a bit of a show for his mother – who had insisted on 'coming along for the ride', Kunimitsu had even walked her to her door, giving her a hug goodnight, before wishing her sweet dreams, and telling her the obvious – that he'd see her tomorrow. It had made her feel good though, like the time before, when she had wondered if he had, in fact, had a secret girlfriend. After the, interesting, question he had asked her earlier; she realised this was not, and probably never had been the case. His mother's reaction to her had also given her this hint.

He wasn't un-datable at all; she knew for certain. Once she had got in, and fought of her uncle's questions about the 'tall bloke' she had been spending time with, she lay on her bed and thought the whole issue over. Something she'd never done before; she'd never really thought about Tezuka so deeply; ever.

The most obvious fact was that he was handsome. So handsome, in fact, that many girls at school had dubbed him the 'king'. Fuji, of course, was the 'prince'. But she supposed that made him desirable, not datable, as such.  
Other things that made him desirable were the fact that he was very intelligent, well off, and, amongst other things; very, very good at tennis; something that had made him a bit of a local celebrity. Which was also, apparently, something desirable.

The thing that made him datable, she thought to herself, foremost, was his great personality. Although, she supposed, most of the female species hasn't come across this great attribute; having been subjected to 'stoic' Tezuka Kunumitsu. She sighed; she'd have to work on this.

Other reasons were of course, his ability to compromise – which would definitely come in handy when deciding on dates; his obvious loyalty, and determination; which would see a relationship through to the end. Lastly, there was the fact that he was very loving, kind, and caring.

Sometimes she wondered if whether she should date him. Other times she realised that he'd never be interested in her, even if she did see him that way. She still, in all honesty, wasn't sure if she did or didn't. He was, she knew, all of the above, and more. Desirable and datable, for different reasons; but he was also her best friend, and friendship and love, from her experience, were very hard to distinguish between. For example; she loved Ryoma; but only a little more than she loved people like Momoshiro. She also loved her other cousin, Nanako, but only a little more than she loved her closest 'girlfriends', such as Sakura.

She sighed. She supposed she would have to figure it out sometime, now however, she was too tired, it would, and could, wait.

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As soon as they had returned home, after dropping Ayame off at her house, Tezuka had retreated to his room, and most importantly, to his bed. He had yanked off his clothes tiredly, and gone to bed in just his boxers. He couldn't even be bothered to change. He was too tired. Emotionally, not physically.

He lay there for hours, just thinking. He'd gone to bed very early, but he was still awake when his parents came upstairs to bed, and he heard them turn out the lights outside.

Even in the complete darkness, he just sat there and thought in the silence. He had realised today that he was in love with Echizen Ayame. He had never been in love before, and now he had managed to fall in love with one of, or maybe even his best friend. He wasn't truly sure how he felt about this. On the one hand, he felt relived. He had realised what his feelings in the past had been for; he realised he had felt jealous of the boys that got to be near her; and he did feel rejected earlier that day when she'd said they'd be nothing more.

Then he felt terrible; awful, scared, worried. She'd said nothing more. Was that true; could they really be nothing more than good friends; or was she just saying that because he was there; now he knew, that she knew, that he was eavesdropping; it threw everything out of proportion. Perhaps she was just saying that because that's what she thought he'd want to hear? Or maybe it was true; and she thought he knew it. Of course; he knew she didn't know how he felt about her. Or did she? Was that her subtle way of telling him that they would never be anything more to her. Nothing more. It sounded worse now, now he knew that he loved her.

He rolled over onto his back, as she had done earlier; with his head resting on his hands, staring at the blank ceiling. He wondered what she had thought while she was lying here. Did she think about him the way he was thinking about her? Doubtful. Truly doubtful.

He rolled onto his side; not realising how he was mirroring her earlier actions; he was too lost in thought. 'Do I tell her?' he asked himself. 'No', he thought, 'she'll just reject me the way she rejected Akio'.

Somehow he was beginning to pity that guy. Sympathise with him even. Now he knew what the guy had thought of before he had gathered the courage to tell Ayame how he felt about her. Although Tezuka was sure that he cared for Ayame far more than Akio ever could have. He didn't even know they were friends; he couldn't know her anywhere near as well as Tezuka did. She was undoubtedly not Akio's best friend – he didn't have anything to lose by asking her. Tezuka could lose a best friend.

Hours later, after thousands of thoughts had passed through Tezuka's head, he somehow managed to fall into a deep slumber. All of his dreams were filled with Ayame.

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_**Reviews? xx Short chapter...the next bit 'needs it's own box' as it were ;) xx  
**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N: I have completely revised this story. I was bored, and it needed doing...I've changed some mistakes and taken some small things out of the story. And I have also added an extra chapter; which I had accidentally - not entirely sure how - missed out beforehand...which was troublesome...and I wanted to add it in...therefore you might want to read the story again; although you won't be missing overly much if you don't. Although I do like the story much better the way it is now...Thankies muchly to anyone who has reviewed in the past! :D WOopWoop! I love you all...and I hope you enjoy the new version of the story...**_

_**Song for this chapter: Two again: 1: Teardrops on my guitar - Taylor Swift, 2: Without you I'm nothing - Placebo  
**_

_**Chapter 11: Cracking**_

Three days after Tezuka had realised his affections towards his friend; Tezuka could barely contain himself. The last three days had been almost torturous for him, and he suddenly understood how people could 'suffer in love'. He now realised that love was certainly not all about bunnies, blue skies, and boxes of cheap chocolate. So far he had not smelled any roses, and he hadn't given any either. That was for sure.

Over the last three days, he had watched her, with an unfamiliar pain in his heart. Every move she made, he watched silently.

The day after he realised his affections for her was a Tuesday. On this Tuesday, he got to school after her, and they sat and talked before lessons together; just like they usually did. This time, however, Tezuka started to notice things that he hadn't noticed before; like the way her mouth moved as she talked; and the way she used her hands, in small gestures, to help explain things; even if she was just talking about how Ryoma's cat managed to trip him up on the stairs that morning, and how funny it was to watch him fall down to the bottom in a heap.

During that Tuesday, he could barely concentrate on anything; he was completely distracted by the person sitting next to him. He had almost got a question wrong just because he wasn't listening properly. Luckily, Ayame had managed to save him at the last minute by 'accidentally' falling off her chair, and whispering the answer to him as he 'helped her up'.

He was even distracted in tennis practice that afternoon. He'd almost managed to get hit on the head with a tennis ball during one of the exercises. He had a feeling that he would be central to the regulars discussions in the changing rooms tonight. He was, in fact, embarrassed about his few mistakes. He never normally made mistakes; and the couple he made today cost him. It cost him about a pint of Inui Juice.

As expected, after the practice, when Tezuka walked into the changing rooms; everyone suddenly fell silent. They'd unquestionably been talking about him. He opted to shower and change quickly, before making a speedy exit; managing to catch the earlier train for the first time in a long time.

Wednesday; the day of the English test, was just as bad. The English words for 'I am datable' were echoing through his head for most of the test. He was confident that he'd get his usual 100, however, he now had a headache as well.  
As per usual, when she had done well at something, Ayame had turned to him after the test and given him a grin and a wink. This time, however, it just felt to Tezuka as if she were mocking him. But he got up and followed her to the cafeteria, even though all he really wanted to do was go and find some pills, water, and a quiet spot, for that lunchtime. That was when he realised he'd probably follow her anywhere – even if she didn't gesture to him, as she had when she'd skipped out of class, and towards the lunch area.

He supposed his 'reward' as it were, for following her, and not abandoning her, was to get squashed up against her in the lunch cheque. He was so close that she was pressed against his stomach, and he could smell her hair. As he knew she would take it as nothing more than a friendly gesture, he let his head fall and rest on her shoulder, and his arm rest on the side, so he was touching her slightly with the sleeve of his uniform. It wasn't much, but it let him feel closer to her. In retaliation, she had lent back onto him; it felt as if they were joined from the top of their bodies, Tezuka thought, and heard her sigh. He wondered if she felt the same way as him at all.

All too soon, the feeling was over, as the lunch cheque moved forwards; they bought their food and went to sit at their normal table; the one in the back left hand corner, and sat in wait for the rest of the regulars.  
Tennis practice was a little better that night.

Thursday soon came, and with it another round of torture. The night before he had barely been able to sleep; as he argued with himself over whether or not he should speak to her about his feelings; and he paid the price in the morning. He was exhausted for tennis practice; but somehow he managed to make it through without any faults; 'thank God' he told himself.

Thursday meant that he didn't have the last two lessons with her, again, like on Mondays; they had games. Another lesson for which he was, annoyingly, exhausted; although on Thursday he had noticed that Ayame also looked quiet tired. They didn't talk much on that day because they were both so tired.

Every night his mother quizzed him on when he would be bringing her 'future daughter' home. Every night he realised that she wasn't the only one who wanted to know.

He cracked on Friday; he himself had wondered how long he would last. It was until Friday; the forth day since he had realised his feelings. He must be terrible at this stuff.

Because he was unable to talk to Ayame about this particular issue; because it revolved around spilling his feelings to her. Tezuka felt he had two options, these being: Telling Oishi, or telling Fuji.

His options were severally limited. In the end though, Tezuka decided that the mother hen of Seigaku, and his closest male fiend, Oishi, would probably be his safest bet. He had no idea what the sadistic side of Fuji would make of his predicament; but he was quite certain that he did not want to know. He would merely have to make it quite clear to Oishi that he was not opposed to using his power as the boy's tennis captain, if anyone; namely Eiji, were to find out what he was going to spill to him.

After a day of torture, Tezuka finally managed to get up the nerve to ask Oishi to join him after school, as he had something he wanted to talk to him about. He doubted that Oishi would know what hit him when he told him what his problem was. His co-captain probably thought that Tezuka wanted to discuss the line up for the next tennis matches; or who would be the next tennis captain for Seigaku. Tezuka grimaced, and internally groaned at this thought; he was so distracted, he hadn't even thought about it.

That was how, that night, Tezuka ended up sitting in an ice cream parlour, far enough away from school that no one from Seigaku was around, eating an ice cream that he didn't want, wrestling with his confidence, and trying to get up the nerves to ask Oishi's opinion on his dilemma.

Oishi was sitting opposite Tezuka, and was quite worried about his friend, and captain's behaviour. Oishi knew himself that he had always been the 'mother of Seigaku' since he fussed over the regulars, his friends, so much. And this was probably why – because all of them were insane. Tezuka had asked him earlier on in the day to meet up with him after school so that they could 'talk about something'. He had assumed, at the time, that this had something to do with tennis; and perhaps next years captain. He had assumed that Tezuka would chose Ryoma as the new captain; but it was a hard choice, especially when Kaido and Momoshiro were in the second year; and Ryoma was only in the first year.

However; Tezuka had brought him to a, quite far away, ice cream parlour; and was acting as Oishi would imagine him to do when talking to his crush. This thought made Oishi worry quite a lot. He may have been gay; not that Tezuka knew – he hoped. However, he did not really want to be the object of the tennis captain, and his best friend's affections. Especially when a bouncy, and very clumsy redhead, already held his own.

It was just as Oishi was about to ask Tezuka what he wanted to say, when the boy looked up at him; a pained expression on his face, and slowly started to tell him what his problem was.

Oishi managed to retain his laughter. He had been worried that Tezuka had liked him for a few moments of his life; but now he knew that Tezuka had, in fact, fallen for a redhead, just like Oishi had. It was rather cute when he thought about it. However; it turned out that Tezuka was straight.

He had to breath in and out deeply for a few moments, before picking at his ice cream, thinking over his reply. Finally, he sighed, and decided to get it over with; having chosen his next words carefully.

"Do you know if she likes you?" he asked gently.

"Not at all", Tezuka replied, sounding a bit upset.

"I think you should tell her", Oishi informed him; after all, he would never know how the girl felt unless he did tell her.  
"Ah", Tezuka replied.

They sat there in silence for a while, eating their ice creams, until, eventually, Tezuka thanked him, got up, paid for their ice creams, and left.

Oishi sat there in silence for a while longer; pondering on what he had heard today, and decided that he'd better get home. He shook his head worriedly, and left.

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The day after she had been to his house, Tezuka had started to seem distant. He was still talking; but she felt that he was concentrating almost too hard on the conversation. She had let this slide, but later on in the day she had noticed that he wasn't concentrating on his lessons; this was very unlike him. He must have had something on his mind. Luckily, when he was asked a question; she saw that he was going to say the wrong answer; and managed to save his good reputation by ruining her own. Apparently falling off a chair was detention worthy in Japan. At least, however, she had managed to slip him the answer when he'd 'helped her up', which was what she had been aiming for. He was so happy about it, it seemed, that he'd even managed to spare her a rare smile; something that always made her extremely happy for some reason. 'Tezuka smiles' as she'd dubbed them, were rare, but they were always the best, and for some reason; always managed to give her a good feeling.

Because she was worried about him; Ayame had stayed to watch his tennis practice that afternoon; she'd asked the teacher if she could have her detention the next day, claiming that she had an urgent appointment to go to.  
She had seen Tezuka play tennis before, many times, although most of those times he was not up to full health. But because of this, she could tell that he was without doubt not playing up to his normal standard. His form was off, and he made several mistakes. They were all very small mistakes, like hitting the ball just out by a millimetre; but they were still mistakes; and she knew him well enough to know that Tezuka Kunimitsu did not make mistakes.

Because she was concentrating on Tezuka, rather than her surroundings, due to worry; the missed the fact that she was about to get caught by the teacher she'd told she had a 'very important, un- miss - able appointment' to which got her another detention; and a very long winded, and boring lecture about 'watching boys play tennis', and the 'misconduct of youth today'.

She didn't mind though; as long as she was looking out for her friend.

Wednesday was an infinitely better day. It was the day of the English test; and she knew Tezuka would do well on the test, because everything that they had revised together had come up. Excluding of course, the proper way to say 'I am datable' in English; she chuckled at this thought. And, in her normal victorious way, she turned and winked at him after the test. She was pleased to note that he looked quite confident about it.

She gestured to him that he should follow her to lunch; she hadn't brought lunch from home today, so she headed to the cafeteria; he followed behind her as usual. Tezuka almost always bought his lunch at school, rather than bringing it from home; unless she brought him in a bentou; as she sometimes did for the regulars. She figured that he wasn't much of a cook.

The lunch cheque, as per usual, was a hustle and bustle of hungry students. She spotted Momo and Ryoma ahead, squished against the side, fighting each other to get to lunch first; and she laughed to herself. She herself was squished up against the side; her front was being pushed into a gaggle of first years; and behind her was Tezuka. She was pleasantly surprised when said boy leant his head down against her shoulder; his cool breath ran down her neck; getting rid of some of the heat of the busy room, and his arm resting on the side next to her. It felt good to have him there; sort of like a protective shell. She decided she liked the feeling quite a lot; and leant back into him, savouring the feeling of him against her back. Their position probably looked a bit intimate to anyone looking on; but she could just put it down to the squish of the cheque.

In all honesty, she was quite upset when the movement of the lunch cheque moved them apart. She hoped he would sitnext to her at lunch; but Momo and Ryomawere already sitting down; so the two ended up sitting onnext to each; opposite each other.

Tezuka looked quite distant during lunch, although he made some small talk with the regulars. She barely managed to catch his eye during the lunch hour; though she usually did whenever one of the other regulars said anything amusing; they would usually laugh together. Wednesday was different though; she didn't think she liked it overly.

That afternoon, she watched him fairly closely. He still seemed distant. She was very worried again; as she had been yesterday. She would have gone to watch him at tennis club that night again; however, she had a double detention to attend. Before she went, though, she managed to text Ryoma and ask him to keep an eye on the stoic captain for her. She knew he would; she knew the boy had a soft spot for the older boy; he was, after all, a very respected captain.

When she was through with her detentions, she met Ryoma outside; he had waited for her – she had told him, well, moaned to him a lot, about her double detention the night before. They walked home together, and he told her that Tezuka seemed better today; more on top of his game. Although he had noticed that the guy was not on top form still.  
At least he seemed a little better, was the thought that they both consoled themselves with that night.

Ayame didn't manage to sleep very well last night. She had woken up many times in the night from strange dreams about some one she was very close to.

That someone happened to be Tezuka Kunimitsu. She couldn't really explain it, but somehow, every time she woke up, she really wanted a hug from him. It was an odd feeling; and indescribable. She went to sleep again a while after she had woken up though, telling herself that she would think upon the matter in the morning.

She had opted out of walking to school early with the regulars, who had tennis practice in the morning, that day, in favour of a lie in, after her hectic night. She got to school just before the bell rang, and sat down at her desk just before the man who had plagued her dreams walked in. He looked exhausted too; however, this was probably because he had just had tennis practice – although she noticed that the other tennis regulars in their class (Fuji and Eiji) looked nowhere near as tired as their captain. This caused her to worry again. She couldn't keep too much of an eye on him that day though, because they had games in the last two lessons; which meant that she would be running round a track, and he would be running around a forest for two hours.

During her running, she did, however, manage to get a lot of thinking done. She also managed to get another detention.

She had been running round the track, ahead of the other girls; because of her own personal training at home. And whilst she was running; she was taking into account the boy known as Tezuka Kunimistu. It was halfway through her last lap that she had finally realised why she was so worried.

It was because she was in love with him.

It was this thought that caused her to stop shock still in the middle of the track. It was also this thought, which caused her to stop in the middle of the track, which caused the inevitable pile up which happened when she stopped. And it was this thought, which provoked this inevitable pile up, which caused her to have another detention.  
One day, she told herself, he was going to pay for this.

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And that was the reason that, on a beautiful Friday afternoon, the day after the thought, which caused the inevitable pile up, which caused her to have another detention; which she should rightfully have been enjoying with her friends, perhaps Ryoma and Momoshiro, outside in the sun; she ended up in a dull, dreary classroom, with a highly upset sports teacher. _**Damn.**_

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_**Reviews? xx This was two chapters...but I changed it ;) xx  
**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N: I have completely revised this story. I was bored, and it needed doing...I've changed some mistakes and taken some small things out of the story. And I have also added an extra chapter; which I had accidentally - not entirely sure how - missed out beforehand...which was troublesome...and I wanted to add it in...therefore you might want to read the story again; although you won't be missing overly much if you don't. Although I do like the story much better the way it is now...Thankies muchly to anyone who has reviewed in the past! :D WOopWoop! I love you all...and I hope you enjoy the new version of the story...**_

_**Song for this chapter: Crazy little thing called love - Queen (Who else...seriously...) & The importance of being idle - Oaisis (WAHOOO)  
**_

_**Chapter 12: My best friend called me the other night; he said man, are you crazy?...**_

Two days after Ayame had realised her feelings for Tezuka was a Saturday. It happened to be this Saturday that the regulars from the tennis team had a tournament, and had thus been given permission to miss school for the day in order to represent the school at said tournament. This fact meant Ayame had a rare day without all of the tennis regulars. Even Inui, the odd one out, had been given permission to go to the tournament as 'bench coach'.  
This left Ayame with the chance to spend the day with her 'girlfriends', and also allowed her some away from Tezuka, who had managed to distract her pretty well for most of the previous day.

She planned originally to ask one of her 'girlfriends' what they should do about her dilemma with Tezuka; however, it seemed that one of Sakura's other close friends decided to spend some 'quality' time with them. It seemed that this girl hated Tezuka. Ayame found out later that she was an ex – Tezuka – fan girl. Now she liked Fuji.  
The fact that this troublesome girl hung around with her and Sakura for the whole, yes whole day, meant that Ayame couldn't talk to Sakura about her problems at all. It really was very troublesome.

Which was why, at five in the evening, Ayame was sitting up in a tree, with a phone in her hand, hiding from her uncle, while she talked her problems away to some one 'older and wiser'. Until now she had never revelled in her uncle's connections into the tennis world. However, when he'd come home the previous day with Hannah Essinheimer's phone number in hand, she couldn't have loved him – or his connections – more.

Hannah was the first person she had thought of when she'd gotten home that day, and so she'd picked up the phone, and run out of the house, away from her uncle, who had decided, since Ryoma was at a tournament, she was the best person to play tennis with. Which was why she had needed to hide up a tree to make the call. Another reason could be the fact that it was over her dead body that her uncle would ever find out about Tezuka Kunimitsu – much less what she thought about him.

Ayame and Hannah had had a very long conversation on the subject; and when it was over, Ayame realised how lucky she was to have someone like Hannah on the other end of the phone. Although she could have done without the laughing, and the screaming, and the squealing. And the teasing.

When Ayame had told Hannah about her problem, the woman had laughed her head off for about a million years, yelling 'I knew it! I knew it!' down the phone, before launching into a barrage of high pitch squealing and then moved on to tease the heck out Ayame.  
When she was finished with being a typical girl though, Hannah was actually very helpful.

"Ayame, Ayame, Ayame", she'd started, "I'm sure you have nothing to worry about at all, I think he likes you far more than you think he does. The only problem you'd have is if he didn't realise it yet. If he didn't realise it yet; then he's not as intelligent as I'd have pegged him to be".

"How can you be so sure?" Ayame had groaned back.

"Because I saw you two together, what was it? All the time back in Germany", Hannah had retorted, in a bit of a snide manor, "Besides, you made him happy; before I saw you two at lunch that day, I'd known him for a few days already; and that was the first time I ever saw him smile".

"Ah, but I was the first Japanese person he met"

"You were the only person he 'met' full stop", Hannah informed her, "He wouldn't even talk to anyone else; it must have been your good looks and charming manor!" she cried down the phone; laughing again.  
Ayame felt the warmth spread across her skin as she blushed at the woman's words.

"But I talked to him first", she insisted, "he didn't really have much of a say in it at all." She sighed, she didn't think Hannah realised how little Kunimitsu talked; even to her, and she knew they were pretty damn close.

"Ayame; look, he was totally more mellow when you were around – don't interrupt, even you should know this, you're not blind, deaf, and stupid. Before you came he was serious grumpy kid, whilst you were there, he was positively more happy, nice, less whiney 'lecture us' kid; and before he left, in the week you weren't there, he was Mr. Mega grump. So there."

Ayame had to laugh at the woman's words. "Mr. Mega grump?" she asked; and the two started laughing simultaneously down the phone. It was the perfect nickname for him sometimes. She'd have to remember it…or maybe not; it might not sit too well with him; although she had to laugh when she thought of him being more of a grump because she used the nickname. 'It would add insult to injury', she thought, 'it'd be hilarious'.

Eventually they had returned to the problem at hand. Ayame being in love with Mr. Mega Grump; as Hannah had so eloquently phrased it.

"What you really have to decide," her friend started, "is whether you're willing to risk your friendship for something more." She had then paused for a few moments before carrying on, as if she was thinking hard about her words, "although, I'm sure your friendship would carry on despite telling him that you love him; and if he rejects you, he's not worth it anyway." She concluded seriously, before adding, 'besides, you can always pass it off as a dare", as an after thought.

Ayame had to laugh; the woman was mad; but a brilliant friend and advise giver. 'Pass it off as a dare indeed,' that idea might just come in useful…

In the end, they had bid their goodbyes to one another, Ayame promising to call Hannah and tell her how her 'chat' had gone with Tezuka. If she didn't call, Hannah told her she would just call her; she was saving her number as soon as she got off the phone…

When they finished their conversation, Ayame jumped down from 'her' tree; she decided that today she'd let Nanjiro win their game of 'hide and seek'. She went and fetched her racket for some quality 'get her ass kicked at tennis time' with her uncle.

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Saturday, Tezuka had thought, would be one of two things. One, it could be awful; this was because Ayame would not be around; and therefore he would be distracted because he would be thinking about her a lot. On the other hand, she would not be there to distract him; it could therefore be a brilliant day – well, the best since Monday at least.  
In the end; it turned out to be a mixture of both. Tezuka managed to win his matches easily – it was only a friendly tournament with some schools in the area after all; the nationals were not here yet. However; his mind was almost constantly distracted with thoughts of his friend; aside from when Tezuka was playing; somehow he managed to focus on them quite well – although he did have some rather distracting thoughts about Ayame being the other side of the net – he still hadn't managed to have a match with her. He had, however, recently heard from Momoshiro that she was, as he had guessed, very good. He assumed that Momoshiro had played a match against her. He'd had his suspicions that she'd beaten him into the ground when his kouhai had firmly denied it, blushing, before running off to do 'some more training'.

He had decided against laughing at the boy; amongst other things, such as mercilessly teasing him; or even forcing him to run laps for 'losing to a girl'. But only because he figured that would be misusing his status as tennis captain; something which Tezuka would defiantly not do (unless Eiji happened to mention anything suspicious about Ayame anytime in the near future); and something that was also a very un – Tezuka – like thing to do. Doing such an un – Tezuka – like thing would probably ruin his reputation. No, he decided, staying quiet, and laughing on the inside, was probably the best thing to do. Although he couldn't suppress a smile at the idea of the tiny Ayame managing to beat the, rather large, and positively very strong, Momoshiro – even through a tennis match, - into the ground.

Overall, the day went pretty well; it was, in fact, the best day since Monday, after all. He, and the rest of the regulars were, as usual, all invited back to Kamura's father's sushi bar for free all you can eat refreshments, which Tezuka always thought was very decent of the man – considering there were people such as Ryoma and Momoshiro in the team – he never could understand how one person could each as much as either of them could.

He even managed to forget Ayame for a while, whilst he celebrated with his team. Well; he mainly celebrated with Fuji and Oishi; but did join in with some of the games the team was celebrating with. Although he chose to pass by truth or dare, and a wasabi sushi eating contest (won by Fuji).

"You seem to be more yourself again tonight, ne Tezuka", the soft voice had come out of nowhere; Tezuka supposed that Fuji had decided to bypass the second round of truth or dare as well. "We were worried you know?"

"Ah", he replied; there was nothing he could really add to that; but the other boy was persistent.

"So why were you so, not yourself Tezuka kun?" he continued.

"I was distracted, it was nothing", he told him, trying to use a firm, final tone. He should have known this wouldn't dissuade Fuji. Though even being prepared to be pestered more, this didn't stop him from almost choking on his water at Fuji's next question.

"Could it be," he had asked, "that such a distraction has red hair?" Tezuka didn't answer; he wasn't sure how. Unfortunately, his silence only egged the tensai on. "Ah, I see", he had gone on, "so that's why".

Tezuka had taken a few more sips of water before replying. "Ah", he said, before sighing. He didn't think Oishi would tell Fuji about his, for want of better word, 'crush'; so he had to go on the assumption that the boy wasn't a tensai for nothing; and had worked it out on his own.

He knew; in his mind, that the best thing to do would be to quash the idea in his friend's head as soon as possible. But for some reason he just couldn't get the words out. Instead he just sat in silence, and let his mind wander. Soon enough, he heard the tensai leave. Although he was quite surprised at the end of the evening, when said boy had come up to him and told him, quite seriously that he 'positively wouldn't tell anyone, until Tezuka did something about it'. Tezuka thought that this was rather un-Fuji like, but was very grateful all the same.

That night, Tezuka Kunimitsu slept very, very well.

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Tezuka Kunimitsu had never been one to get many phone calls. He had carefully monitored everyone he had given his phone number to, so that he could be sure he was not going to be harassed at indecent times by his ridiculous fan girls. He also knew that if one had gotten his number; they all would have. For this reason, on a Sunday morning, he was quite confused over the fact that there was an identified number showing up on his screen, whilst the phone rang.

It had been ringing for around three rings by now; and he was still deciding whether to pick the offending object up and answer it. On one hand, it could be a wrong number; or a friend who had changed their phones, and in which case, he would be perfectly fine. Safe. On the other hand, if he picked it up and there was a girl on the other end of the phone, whom had called him to see if this 'really was Tezuka Kunimitsu's phone number', he would be screwed.

By the time he had finished pondering on the probability of a fan girl managing to get his phone number; through black mail, perhaps, or by stealing a regular's phone, the ringing had stopped; and his voice mail had picked up.

It was then he realised his mistake; he should have turned the phone off; if it was a fan girl; his voicemail which started with the word's 'you've reached Tezuka Kunimitsu…' would be a dead giveaway.

He decided if they called again, he would pick up the phone. If it was a fan girl; they would have had their suspicions confirmed and therefore wouldn't call again; if it was a wrong number, they would also realise that this was the wrong phone to be calling. If the person on the other end of the phone was a friend, who had changed their number; he assumed that they would do the smart thing, and send him an e – mail; or if it was important; ring again.

Five minutes later the phone rang again. This time, he picked it up as soon as he'd checked the number.

"Hai?" he asked the caller.

"Kunimitsu!" called a familiar voice from down the phone – someone he was not expecting him to call at all; ever.

"Hannah?" he asked, incredulous. He must have not recognised her voice correctly.

"Yup!" she replied, chipper as ever, he wondered whether she had been drinking before she'd phoned. Probably.  
"May I ask why you called?"

"Because I wanted to tell you my news Kunimitsu", he could almost see her pout, "I wanted to tell you I'm going to debut later this year! It is thanks you to of course; and Ayame".

Tezuka wasn't exactly sure why the mere mention of Ayame suddenly had his heart beating faster; but he supposed he had a lot to learn about love.

"Ah", he replied, "that's great."

"Is that all you have to say?" said a grumpy voice from the other end of the phone, "Ayame jumped up and down screaming for about five minutes!" she scolded.

"I see", he replied, "well, it's good news. Did you tell Ryoma?"

There was silence for a few moments.

"Ryoma?"

Tezuka sighed, "Echizen, Ayame's cousin"

"What?" she suddenly snapped down the phone, "her cousin?"  
"Ah", he replied; "she came here to live with him and her uncle".

"I see" she was being quiet again; Tezuka let out a quiet sigh.

"Not many people in Germany knew they were cousins, Hannah, she only told me because she found out I was his captain. She was living under a different name".

"I see", she was pouting again. Luckily this woman was like Ayame; she bounced back pretty quickly.  
"So how is Ayame?" she asked quickly.

"I thought you had talked to her?" he asked; pinching the bridge of his nose. He didn't really want to talk to this woman about Ayame at the present time. Or ever, preferably.

"Yes, but people hide things right? She might had said that she was fine; but she could actually have been not fine at all."

Tezuka realised, once again, that he would never understand girls; or women; especially women like HannahEssinheimer. And fan girls – always fan girls.

"She's perfect", he replied; before realising how bad that could have sounded; so he quickly pretended to have a coughing fit, before he choked out 'She's perfectly fine', down the phone. The woman was once again silent for a few moments. Maybe she was eating? It was a different time scale over there after all.

"Right", she finally replied, "I see. And how have you been Mr. Gru – I mean, Kunimitsu?"

He was sure there was something she wasn't saying; that she was holding back; however, he didn't want to intrude on her privet thoughts, so he just gave her the answer that he was fine. Emphasizing the fine part for an unknown reason.

"Well, that's all I wanted to know, so I'd better go Kunimitsu!"

"Ah", he replied.

"Will you be seeing Ayame anytime soon?" she suddenly asked; as if as an afterthought.

"Ah, I have school with her tomorrow. Would you like me to pass on your regards?"

"No, that's okay thanks, I'll phone her next I think"

"Ah", was all he could say; suddenly wishing that he was the one who would be phoning Ayame.  
"Goodbye, Kunimitsu, good luck!"

"And you, Hannah, I'll be sure to watch your matches."

"With Ayame I hope!" she replied. He was about to ask her what she meant by such a thing, but before he could get the words out, the dial tone came on.

He debated for a few moments on ringing her back, or ringing Ayame in revenge, so that the, probably drunk, trainer couldn't get through. Then he decided that it must have been an innocent, friendly mistake. Not that she was hinting at anything. He hoped so anyhow.

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Kunimitsu had said she was perfect; before covering it up, what a bad, fake, coughing fit, she laughed to herself. Something was definitely going on there. She could feel it: Women's intuition.

As she had told him she would; she phoned Ayame again next. She was greeted far more happily by the girl. Although she seemed a bit embarrassed when she addressed the issue of Ryome Echizen being her cousin. She told Hannah how it had been not a secret; but she had felt no reason to actually tell anyone. After all, Nanjiro was quite famous; and she didn't really fancy talking about her uncle overly much.

"But you talked to Mr. Grumpy about it?" The girl merely laughed at her.

"Not as much as other things", was her reply. Hannah decided to leave it at that.

"Have you decided when to tell him yet? And how?"

"Ah, not yet. I was thinking I could wait until Seigaku had won the nationals…I mean; it might be a distraction if I were to tell him now; because he might be annoyed that I like him – just like another one of his, million or so, fan girls, and then play badly?"

"That's the worst excuse I have ever heard Ayame. Get on the case alright? Or I will phone you up every night!"

"I don't think I'd mind"

"You would when the only thing I'd say would be 'Tezuka Tezuka Tezuka', over and over and over and ove - "

"Okay! Okay! I get it" the girl cried down the phone; although Hannah could tell she was laughing along. "Okay, I will 'get on the case, as you so aptly put it. I don't know how to yet though, so just, well, give me some time okay?!"

"Okay then, I suppose."

"Thank you", she replied; Hannah knew the girl was grinning.

"Oh, yes, Ayame, because of all the excitement over Kunimitsu, I forgot to tell you!"

"Tell me what?"

"I'm going to debut later this year!"

In the end, Hannah hadn't really told much of a lie…but the screaming went on for more like ten minutes…

_**Reviews? xx This was two chapters...but I changed it. AGAIN. Lallaaaa ;) xx  
**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**A/N: I have completely revised this story. I was bored, and it needed doing...I've changed some mistakes and taken some small things out of the story. And I have also added an extra chapter; which I had accidentally - not entirely sure how - missed out beforehand...which was troublesome...and I wanted to add it in...therefore you might want to read the story again; although you won't be missing overly much if you don't. Although I do like the story much better the way it is now...Thankies muchly to anyone who has reviewed in the past! :D WOopWoop! I love you all...and I hope you enjoy the new version of the story...**_

_**P.S. Get reviewing people...I now have more chapters than reviews...that's almost sad...sobsob**_

_**:P :D ;)**_

_**Song for this chapter: You make me smile: Blue October (another FAVORITE 3)  
**_

_**Chapter 13: The trouble with love**_

When she and Hannah had finished their conversation; Ayame headed downstairs to help her cousin, and auntie make some breakfast. That morning's song was a rather out of tune, and pitch, rendition of Perfect Day, by Superchick, a song that always put Ayame in a rather more bouncy, and resilient mood. She could remember introducing the band to Kunimitsu in Germany. The look on his face when she'd suggested that they danced around to it had been priceless. During the remainder of their stay in Germany, she had tried her very hardest to see that look on his face as many more times as possible; although, by the time he left, she was quite certain that he had gotten wise to her; and was only putting on the look – when she was lucky.

Other songs lined up in the breakfast show that morning were Whenever Wherever, Kiss me, my obsession and Damn, I wish I was your lover. Which was a pretty big coincidence, when Ayame thought about it.

Although she was a little bit put out when Vacation, by Simple Plan, came on. Quite speedily the song moved out of her top ten, and into her bottom one hundred.

However, she was in too good a mood that day to let it bother her. That Sunday she, and the other members of the Echizen family were going out for a rare family day. It wasn't that they didn't enjoy doing the whole 'family' act. It was that between school, tennis matches, homework, work in general, and Ryoma's unwillingness to spend time with Nanjiro; it was rather hard to scheduled such events. Today they were heading into the city to go shopping. The girls were going for a rare clothes shopping spree; while the guys were going for a less – rare sports shopping spree. Although this meant that they would get there, have a huge lunch, do about five minutes shopping in one store, singular, and then go and find some street courts to battle it out on until 'home time'.

They went by car to the city, and Nanjiro parked in the multi-story lot nearest the shops. They set their watches, and agreed to meet at 6, so they could go and have a 'family dinner' at a local restaurant.

Overall, the day was pretty enjoyable for Ayame. She enjoyed spending time with Rinko and Nanako. She didn't really see Rinko as a mother at all though; spending time with the two of them was like spending it with sisters; or best friends. Everywhere they went she and Nanako got comments on how alike they looked. They had the exact same hairstyle – just in a different colour; which was probably the reason. Although Ayame was sure hers was a little longer. She needed to get it cut.

They ended up, as per usual, with far more bags than the guys. Who had about five between them. The girls had at least double that; each.

Although the girls had mainly been looking for clothes; they had all come back with other spoils such as some nice silver jewellery for Nanako; some nice new bags for Rinko; and some sporting equipment for Ayame. She had even bought a cute tennis dress; which Rinko had praised; telling that she had had one in her youth – although it suited Ayame far more. She wasn't sure about this; Rinko had always been very pretty; and her tennis had given her a nice figure to work with.

Amongst getting clothes and the like; Ayame and Nanako; who had school, unlike Rinko, had decided to purchase their gifts for the year; since they both found it difficult to get hold of birthday presents while they were busy with school. These presents had included food vouchers for both Momo and Ryoma (Although, since he was her cousin, she'd have to get him something else too), some 'joke' toothpaste for Eiji, which Ayame was sure he'd love, and some 'hot' sweets for Fuji. The local joke shop had seemed to be the best place to purchase gifts for the tennis regulars.

She had also, of course; got presents for her closest 'girlfriends', including Sakura; for whom she'd found some really nice earrings, that she was sure the girl would just love; and she'd even bought Hannah some nice tennis wear to send to the woman.

By the end of the day, they were exhausted; as were the boys, who had, as predicted, played tennis for most of the day. Rinko seemed a bit worried that they might have drawn a bit too much attention to themselves, when she saw a group of girls standing a few feet away, pointing and giggling at the two guys.

When they had deposited their bags in the car; Nanjiro had taken them all out to the nearest Sushi bar; which happened to be the favourite of the family. And they had a really nice meal; until, that is, Nanjiro got chucked out for being 'far too loud'.

Overall, as predicted, the family Echizen had had a fabulous day out.

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Tezuka had sometimes wondered what the point of romance was. It was after he had finished his conversation with Hannah Essinheimer that he finally realised it. His mother had called him down, and forced him to sit through one of her slushy romance films; under the pretext of having no one else to watch with. His grandfather had gone to visit a friend who lived in the area, and his father and his father was on a business trip – as he so often was. His work was very demanding.

Therefore, Tezuka had settled down with his mother for two hours of slush; which he was sure would turn his brain to mush. It was only after he had finished watching the movie that he realised how significant it was in his life. He needed to be romantic. That was how to get through to her.

As soon as the movie was over, he stood up and told his mother he was going out. His mother had smiled knowingly at him. He was sure she knew exactly where he was going. For some reason, he felt a little bit embarrassed at this fact. But that wasn't the time to dwell on it.

An hour later, he had bought a big bunch of multi-coloured flowers (he had seen them and thought immediately of her) and had trekked across town to the Echizen residence; where she was currently residing.

It took him only a few moments to find the courage to knock on the door; although he was sure that this probably had something to do with the fact that the house looked, and sounded, empty.

He had knocked on the door, several times, and had soon found it to indeed be empty. He was more disappointed than he thought he would be. He sighed and sat on the steps; trying to figure out a plan of action. Eventually he decided to just write a note and leave them on the doorstep. Which is what he did; although he couldn't decide whether he wanted her to recognise his fancy scrawl or not.

He had decided it didn't matter, and trekked home. He felt quite disappointed; but he supposed that she couldn't be home all of the time. She was probably out with her family, or her friends. He just hoped she wasn't out with someone who was a little less than family, and a little more than a friend.

He lay in bed that night hoping that she would like the flowers a lot. It was a big bunch of very big, brightly coloured flowers; he thought they suited her personality perfectly.

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At the end of the perfect day; Ayame came home to the perfect welcome. There, on the doorstep, were a bunch of beautiful flowers. They were many different colours and sizes; and they smelled amazing.

She had assumed; at first, that they had to be for Nanako. However; Rinko had pulled a small not out from the middle of the bunch, which had read, simply 'For Ayame', in very neat handwriting.

Ayame wondered whether she could truly believe that they were from Kunimitsu - it certainly looked like his handwriting. However, she had no idea why he, of all people, would buy her flowers. Unless of course...  
She supposed there was only one 'sensible' way to find out.

X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x X

Tezuka got up early on Monday morning, in order to go to school, and be there early for tennis practice. All morning he worried about whether he wanted her to know who they were from or not; until he finally got into the classroom. However, he was very disappointed to find that she wasn't there.

He sat there, feeling very confused, for all the lessons leading up to lunch; when he finally heard it, one of the girls, Sakura, he thought, was telling her friend how Ayame had been left a bunch of flowers, which had caused her an allergic reaction, causing her to be hospitalized.

Tezuka couldn't imagine the look on his face. He imagined it would be fairing somewhere between shock, and embarrassment. He'd had no idea when he'd bought them that they might cause such a reaction - he hadn't even thought about it. He'd just wanted to be, well, romantic.

The rest of the day passed in a daze; a fog of confusion, and sadness. He had no idea what to do. He hoped that maybe there was a mistake.

Tuesday rolled around quick enough; the tennis ball that hit him in the back of his head reminded himself that he wasn't in the middle of a bad dream. Now injury had been added to insult, he thought to himself bitterly. Ayame had once again not been in school. He was beginning to truly worry. Perhaps the flowers really had hospitalised her.

He was desperate to ask Ryoma about this. But there were several arguments against this. Firstly, Ryoma might realise that he was responsible for the flowers; and, if the case was that he had given her an allergic reaction, he definitely did not want many people to know about it. Especially not the first year in question. Secondly, what if he was wrong, and Ryoma accused him of listening to rumours; something that Tezuka avoided at all costs usually. He couldn't, however, have missed this one; Sakura was talking so loud. Lastly, he didn't generally show his worry off in front of other people, and he didn't particularly want to start now. Being mother hen was Oishi's job. Not his.

Therefore, he simply did not acknowledge the fact that she was not at school. Until, finally, after school on Saturday; when he knew Ryoma would be out with Momoshiro, he headed straight from school, to the Echizen residence. He stood outside for quite a while, berating himself for the flowers; and also for not bringing a 'please forgive me' gift. He was also tried to get up the confidence.

After about twenty minutes of pacing up and down the pathway, he finally reached out his hand, and knocked on the door.

The door was opened almost immediately. He wasn't expecting it to be opened, however, by Ayame herself.  
She leaned against the doorframe, smiling at him. Her hair was a bit of a mess, just falling all over her head, some handing down over the front of his shoulder; swinging gently in the breeze.

He looked her up and down, and discovered, to his surprise, she looked quite well. She was standing there in some green tracksuit bottoms and a white tank top. He could see, therefore, that she hadn't had an allergic reaction to her skin; so he supposed that was a good thing at least. Her eyes didn't look puffy, her face wasn't red, and she didn't have any spots.

She looked perfectly fine.

"Hello Kunimitsu", she said in a bright voice, "I was wondering when you were going to come in."

He realised she had seen him. He felt rather foolish for a moment, but brushed it off. He opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it again. He tried again, several times, but he couldn't seem to make the words come.

"Baka", she said to him, after his fourth try. "So you were the one who brought the flowers," she smiled happily at him.  
"Yes, but, didn't you, I mean, didn't you have an - "

"Allergic reaction?" she was smirking at him. "Nope, good plan though wasn't it? Even Hannah couldn't think up a better way of finding out who sent them. And you know what she's like," she paused and winked. "So, you coming in or what?"

She stepped back, still holding the door open, and he walked in past her, slipping off his shoes, and pushing them to the side. He had no idea what was going on still. Aside from the fact that she didn't have an allergic reaction; she was fine; and now she definitely knew it was him who had sent the flowers. He wasn't sure how he felt about this. He'd just suffered through almost a whole week of hell, because he thought she was ill. He couldn't find it in himself to be angry though, not even annoyed.

He followed her into the kitchen, and watched silently as she prepared two mugs of steaming coffee, before she shoved one into his hands, and walked up the stairs. He followed her up to her room, and sat on her bed next to her, when she gestured for him to.

"Why weren't you at school?" he finally asked her. She turned to him and smiled sadly, before turning away; her eyes glancing over the calendar in the corner of her room. He watched as she brought her knees up under her chin, and wrapped her arms around her legs.

"I wanted some alone time", she told him, "Wednesday was the anniversary of my parents deaths, so I went to visit their graves back in Europe." She turned and smiled at him. "Obviously you don't pay enough attention to me", she grinned at him, and laughed at the look on his face.

"I...I was really worried!" he cried out, standing up suddenly, "I thought, I thought that I had hurt you. I worried all week!"

He turned away from her, blushing at his outburst; he turned his face to the floor. He turned back to her though, in surprise, when she started laughing.

"I guess we're even then", she said, answering his questioning look.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked; he was, well, he was quite upset really. She got up and walked towards him, reaching up high to ruffle his hair lightly.

"What sort of a fool suddenly gets all distant from his bestest friend?" she asked, "Falling on my ass like that in class hurt you know!" she carried on. "All to save your smartie pants reputation. Did you know I had double detention because I came and watched you play tennis instead of the first one. I guess now you do have an idea of how worried I am huh?"

He looked at her, confused. He'd had no idea that she'd had detention for that little stunt at all. Let alone a double detention. Now he felt pretty awful; not to mention embaressed; she'd seen him play like that? He supposed it could be worse; at least she hadn't seen the tennis ball that acctually reached it's mark that week.

Had she really worried so much about him these past weeks? He knew he'd been distant, but really? She'd go so far for him? Why?

"So, what was with the flowers? I love them by the way; they're beautiful." He looked up to find her smiling at him again.

"That was, erm; It was a spur of the moment thing" , he ended up muttering. He knew he sounded pathetic.

"I see", she replied. She stood up and crossed the few stept towards him; before yanking his jacket towards her. He was surprised that he stumbled fowards and into her outstretched arms; which she wrapped around him, squeezing him in a tight. "Thank you", she said softly; before letting him go, and sitting back down on the bed.

He followed her and sat down, not knowing what else to do. He felt a bit akward now. "What was that for?" he asked her.

"It was a spur of the moment thing", she replied, smirking at him.

"Ah"

They sat there in silance for a while. Neither knowing exactly what to say; neither one wanting to break the comfortable silence between them. Every now and then one would take a sip of coffee; until their cups were emplty.  
"So", Ayame started; "How about some dinner?"

"Won't you eat with your family?" he questioned.

"Nah", she replied, "won't you?"

"No"

"It's decided then" she was smiling at him again. She walked downstairs, and liked the familiar sound of him following her again. She had missed her best friend a lot this last week; and in the couple of weeks he had been distant beforehand. He still seemed a little...reserved; she would have to find out why. And soon.

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_**Reviews? xx Lallaaaa ;) xx  
**_


	14. Chapter 14

_**A/N: I have completely revised this story. I was bored, and it needed doing...I've changed some mistakes and taken some small things out of the story. And I have also added an extra chapter; which I had accidentally - not entirely sure how - missed out beforehand...which was troublesome...and I wanted to add it in...therefore you might want to read the story again; although you won't be missing overly much if you don't. Although I do like the story much better the way it is now...Thankies muchly to anyone who has reviewed in the past! :D WOopWoop! I love you all...and I hope you enjoy the new version of the story...**_

_**P.S. Get reviewing people...I now have more chapters than reviews...that's almost sad...sobsob**_

_**:P :D ;)**_

_**Song for this chapter: Another Sunny Day - Belle and Sebastian  
**_

_**Chapter 13: Never alone  
**_

It would probably be an understatement to say Echizen Ryoma was surprised to find his tennis captain, and most respected sempai, Tezuka Kunimitsu, at his house.

It was definitely an understatement to say that Echizen Ryoma was surprised to find his tennis captain, and most respected sempai, not only at his house, but in his kitchen, laughing. A lot.

It was positively, unquestionably, and undoubtedly an understatement to say that Echizen Ryoma was surprised to find hit tennis captain, and most respected sempai, Tezuka Kunimitsu at his house, in his kitchen, laughing, a lot, whilst wearing one of his cousin's most girly aprons, and helping said cousin cook.

Because such was the case, Ryoma did the only thing one could do in a situation. He stood by the door and stared. He stared for quite a long time. Before, finally, he left and scampered up the stairs, before either of the aforementioned people noticed that he was there.

He was not completely sure what he was most disturbed about. It might have been the fact that Tezuka was helping Ayame cook, which he knew was defiantly not one of Tezuka's most prominent talents. Or a talent at all; he had heard the horror stories from the third year's food tech classes. Fuji and Eiji had filled him in. Of course; it could be the fact that someone like Tezuka would let himself get shanghaied into wearing such a girly apron. The thing had frills! Ryoma wrinkled his nose at the idea of wearing such a thing. Even Ayame herself didn't wear that apron. She had been bought it by her friends at her school in America; partly as a joke. She sometimes got it out for a laugh when she was in a really good mood. Or when Nanako put her version of it on – although Nanako actually _liked_ hers.

It may though, have been the fact that he didn't think he had ever seen Tezuka laugh before; at least not that much. He had perhaps seen him chuckle on a couple of occasions in the past. But he had never heard the tennis captain actually full out laugh, as he was doing at the moment. He could hear him from here; the older boy's base voice rang out around the house; joined by the soprano laugh of his cousin.

It did sound nice, he had to admit, to hear them laugh together like that. Their voices…suited each other somehow.

What he knew for sure was that it was not the fact that Tezuka was here with his cousin. He knew that Ayame had a thing for Tezuka already. Although she had not said it in so many words; he knew; he'd known her well since she was a kid. And vice versa; neither found it particularly easy to hide things from the other – if they could at all. She really was like the sister he had never had. Nanako had only joined their family as a real 'member' when they had moved to Japan. Although Ayame had not taken on their name before they moved to this country, she had always been 'with' them.

He didn't know whether he liked the idea of Tezuka being in the same family as him or not. Luckily, he thought, Nanjiro wasn't home – he and Rinko had gone out for a 'date' to be like 'old times' on their anniversary. Nanako was also out; he suspected she was with her boyfriend, the boy he had seen her with a few days ago whilst he was out with Momo. He'd have to warn her to keep her mouth shut around Nanjiro. Ayame, it seemed, was already wise to this; luckily.

He heard the laughter stop downstairs, and guessed that they had finished making food. He decided to slip out of the back door, and then come in again, so they didn't know he'd been here. Then maybe he could nick some of their food. He was pretty damn hungry.

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Nanako saw Ryoma just before he went through the door and called out to him. He must have been hanging out with Momoshiro again. She liked that guy; it was good that Ryoma had someone like him to hang out with in Japan.

"Ah, hi Nanako", the boy replied, taking off his shoes, and stepping inside. She caught up with him and slid her shoes off her feet; following him into the kitchen. She was quite surprised at what she saw.

Ryoma walked past the two at the kitchen table and walked straight to the fridge, greeting them as if this was normal. Ayame smiled back, and the boy she was with inclined his head towards him. Unfortunately, Ryoma had spoken too softly for her to have caught the guy's name.

She walked towards them too. "Hey Ayame", she said brightly, smiling at the two.

"Hi Nanako" she grinned back, "have you met Kunimitsu?" she gestured to the boy beside her.

"Ah", he said, he stood up and leaned across the table towards her, holding out his hand, "Tezuka Kunimitsu", he said in a deep voice, "Pleased to meet you, sorry for intruding."

"No problem", she replied, smiling widely and leaning forwards to shake his hand. "I'm Nanako, Ayame's cousin".

"I see", he replied, sitting back down; his eyes glancing towards Ayame. Nanako almost giggled. He seemed to like Ayame an awful lot. She wondered what the girl had done to his hair. It was sticking out all over the place, and looked a little wet at the front. He was also just sitting in his shirt; she wondered what had happened to his jacket…

"What on earth have you done to your friend Ayame?" she asked, trying to sound meaningful. Ayame just laughed.

"I was teaching him how to cook Nanako," she told her, looking over at the boy beside her, and reaching up to ruffle his hair. "We seem to have another hopeless case here."

"Surely he can't be as bad as Ryoma?" She teased; playing along.

"Worse" the girl grinned back, before they both laughed. Both girls knew how bad the kid was at cooking. It was one word: Awful.

"Oi", the boy in question interrupted. "At least I can play tennis!"

"Oooh", Nanako said softly, giggling, "burn!"

Ayame just rolled her eyes; which surprised Nanako to no end; she had assumed the girl would take up on the bait. Usually fights like this ended up on the tennis court; in a full out match.

"I should get going", said Tezuka suddenly; standing up and running a hand through his hair; managing to smooth it a little. He walked over to the side and collected his jacket; Ayame followed behind as he walked towards the door.

Nanako joined Ryoma in yelling 'goodbye' from the kitchen; before they both exchanged a 'look'. Nanako giggled, before grabbing some cleaning things, and quickly going over the counters for Ayame.

A few moments later the girl returned to find the kitchen pretty much clean.

"Awh, Nanako, you didn't have to, thanks so much", she gushed. Nanako just smiled back at her.

Ryoma started to walk out of the kitchen, and tried to get past Ayame. The girl had other plans, however; she grabbed the back of his shirt; "Where do you think you're going; cocky brat?" she asked.

Without being asked Nanako knew that she was once again going to be needed to umpire a full out tennis match. She sighed as she followed them, Ayame dragging Ryoma, out of the back door, on the way to the tennis courts.

X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x X

_**Reviews? xx Lallaaaa ;) xx  
**_


	15. Chapter 15

_**A/N: I have completely revised this story. I was bored, and it needed doing...I've changed some mistakes and taken some small things out of the story. And I have also added an extra chapter; which I had accidentally - not entirely sure how - missed out beforehand...which was troublesome...and I wanted to add it in...therefore you might want to read the story again; although you won't be missing overly much if you don't. Although I do like the story much better the way it is now...Thankies muchly to anyone who has reviewed in the past! :D WOopWoop! I love you all...and I hope you enjoy the new version of the story...**_

_**P.S. Get reviewing people...I now have more chapters than reviews...that's almost sad...sobsob**_

_**:P :D ;)**_

_**Song for this chapter: Fairy Tale - Blue October (I think this is like, THE SONG for this fic ;))  
**_

_**Chapter 15: Thinking thoughts**_

The two of them had made a bit too much food the previous night, Ayame realised on the Saturday morning. She decided she'd better take it to school so that they could share it for lunch that day. That being the case she had to use a rather large bentou.

Cooking with Tezuka had been stupendously fun the night before. He was worse than Ryoma; and Ryoma was bad. She'd known already that he didn't like cooking overly; but that night had really put things into perspective for her.

He had laughed a lot more than usual too; as had she. It really had been great fun. Out of school, Tezuka was a lot more fun, she decided. Several times she thought how nice it would be to stand in a kitchen with a husband, cooking and laughing like the two of them were. Then her thoughts turned towards confessing to him; just like that. But she didn't want to ruin the atmosphere – she hadn't had this much fun in ages; it was a big relief after visiting her 'parents' for the best part of a week.

To be honest; she wasn't overly surprised about the flowers being from him; but she had expected them to have arrived because of the anniversary of her parent's death; not just randomly. Surely bringing flowers for someone on the 'spur of the moment' was a bit to, romantic? Or intimate…for two best friends. Then again; Kunimitsu always had been his own person.

She was also surprised about his outburst; worried indeed. People took time off school, and had allergic reactions all the time. Besides; if he'd have left his name, she wouldn't have needed to have Sakura say she'd had an allergic reaction; loudly. Although she supposed she had got her revenge. Not that he'd even noticed what he'd been doing anyway; it seemed.

Stupid boy She was glad to have him back though; she'd missed her best friend a lot. She'd been speaking to Hannah a lot more lately, too, it seemed. They had talked a lot more when she went to visit her parents; Hannah was there for comfort in that time. Ayame would be forever grateful for it.

They had also agreed that if she didn't tell Tezuka Kunimitsu about her feelings by the end of Sunday, Hannah would announce it on television.

_ Damn _

She supposed there would be no way out of it. Hannah would unquestionably announce it on TV. She was doing an interview with the international tennis channel the next week. She was sure even if Tezuka wasn't watching, another regular would be, or that it would get published in a newspaper. She sighed. She was screwed.

Royally screwed She was fairly quiet on the walk to school that day; she was trying to pluck up the courage to talk to him about her feelings; she had no idea how to go about doing so. When she saw Momo up ahead, she told Ryoma to go and get a ride on his bike, since she 'had a headache and would not be overly interesting to talk to today'.

It just happened that about five minutes later she turned a corner and ran right into the guy she had been thinking about all morning. Tezuka Kunimitsu himself. "Ah, Kunimitsu!" she cried out, looking up at him and grinning. "I brought the rest of the food we made yesterday; shall we share it at lunch?" "Ah", he replied, falling into step with her. Soon they were conferring in an easy conversation, as per usual. She didn't miss the look Ryoma gave her when she and Tezuka reached the gate.

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It was a sunny day, Tezuka thought happily, as he left his house and started to walk to school. All the way to the train station; and all through the train ride, his thoughts were occupied with Ayame.

After his 'cooking experience' as the girl had dubbed it; Tezuka had had to go home and have a long shower; one which involved scrubbing his hair intensely, trying to get rid of whatever crap had managed to manifest in his self proclaimed 'bird's nest' hairdo. It was troublesome; but he wouldn't have missed the experience for the world.

Several times, the night before, he had thought to himself how great it was to spend time with Ayame. He never laughed more than when he was with him; he completely let his guard down – even though he made a habit of telling everyone to keep theirs up. He found it very ironic, knowing his catchphrase had become 'don't let you guard down', and he had recently realised that the best times in his life were when he did let his guard down.

So far, he had gone over the night's events about twenty times, at least. He knew it was probably stupid, but he just couldn't help himself. He had wanted, last night, to confess; to 'tell all'. But he had just not been able to bring himself to do so. He had just wanted to enjoy his time with her. Whenever he saw her smiling up at him, or heard her laugh, he just wanted it to last forever.

But there was another feeling he had noticed last night that worried him also. It was the fact that several times, he had been utterly captivated by her lips. He felt himself, on occasion, lean into her, and almost bend down and kiss her. Just like that. It was like a bad romance movie.

Maybe, he thought to himself, that he should have just taken the plunge and kissed her, rather than have restrained himself. It would, at least, be a 'sort of confession'. She would certainly have understood how he felt about her. It would be hard not to. Also; it meant he would not have to talk; not have to write a sappy love note, and not have to be romantic, then lie about it by accident.

It would be the perfect solution. However, he knew, from watching too many sappy romances with his mother; that he would have to have the timing absolutely right. And unfortunately, this was not a tennis match he was playing. He knew, in tennis, his timing was impeccable. How else could he manage to time shots so well?

Unfortunately, in the game of love, timing seemed to rely more on the setting, than the fact that the ball was going to need to stay in the other half of the court. So far, he had not even seen a court in this 'game'. Dammnit, he thought to himself. It happened to be just as he'd finished this last thought, that he turned around the corner, and walked straight into the girl he'd been thinking about all morning; and all night.

She looked up at him and grinned; greeting him like normal, and offering to share a bentou of the food they'd prepared together. 'Of course', he thought to himself, 'I'd eat anything she offered me.' He wasn't quite sure where a thought like that had come from, but he was sure it was only natural when one was 'in love'. Thoughts like that were thought by some characters in movies…they were trying to portray real life after all…

As usual, they fell into easy conversation. It was hard not to with Ayame; she always had something interesting or amusing to talk about. Unlike most girls he knew, who were only interested in boys and make up. Oh, and if they were trying really hard, some girls pretended to actually be interested and know a bit about tennis.

He supposed there were a few other girls around who weren't as annoying as the majority. This included Ryuzaki Sakuno; who was a very sweet girl. She was the tennis coach's granddaughter, and she had a slight infatuation with Ryoma. She was the opposite of her annoying, off putting friend Tomoka. She was sweet and shy, and she cooked bentous for Ryoma when he played matches. It really was very sweet. She herself had started tennis club at the beginning of the year – probably due to her grandmother's influence, and was getting steadily better. From what he had seen, she might even manage to make a regular member some time. Although there wasn't really much to say about the girl's regular team for Seigaku. Ayame had even refused to join; but for some reason, he wasn't surprised. He looked down at her now; she was talking about high school today. She was still deciding what to study as a final subject. She had decided on taking Maths, Physics, Chemisty, Biology and Sport. She wanted to take a decent, and none too hard last subject because of the intensity of those she was already going to study; but she didn't want a useless qualification such as English – it was pretty damned obvious she could speak the language; she didn't need a sheet of paper to prove it.

He chuckled at her logic; she was quite right. He was surprised, however, to find she was taking the same subjects as he was the next year; although he had never asked her what she wanted to be when she was older. He, however, was talking English. After his visit to Germany, he had promised himself that he would master the language. He thought he might be able to ask her to help him; if she would, that is. When they arrived at school, Momoshiro and Ryoma were still at the gate, talking to the three freshmen boys that were in Ryoma's class. He assumed that they had gone on ahead of Ayame so that they could go on Momoshiro's bike. When he and Ayame walked through the gate, he noticed that Ryoma shot the girl in question quite an interesting look. He had no idea what it meant thought; the boy looked confused. He was not sure though; he had never truly witnessed many of Ryoma's emotions.

He greeted the others at the gate, and he and Ayame headed into school together. Before class started he managed to find out that she was planning to go into the same career as he was: Sports Doctor. He was surprised; but he realised quickly that he shouldn't have been. This was Ayame. She loved sport; and she had been to rehab for a sports injury. He knew that she did not want to play professionally; they had discussed the idea together before. Although he thought when he left school he might want to play professionally for a few years if he could. She probably had the same reasons for wanting to be a sports doctor as he did. He had always wanted to do something that would keep him involved with tennis, and he was very inspired by those people at the German Rehab Centre. She probably had been too.

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School passed quickly that day. The best part of it, for Tezuka, had to be eating lunch with Ayame. Because they had a bentou, instead of buying things from the cafeteria, they headed outside to find a quiet spot, and ended up resting under one of the big trees near the tennis court. Quite a few of the freshmen were there, practicing, no doubt, for next year; when they would be allowed to try out for the regular places.

He'd looked down to his side, to see Ayame leaning back against the tree and watching the kids playing. It couldn't be comfortable to lean at such an awkward angle, he told himself. He leant back himself, before pulling her arm towards him, so she fell against him. At least she would be comfy to lean on him.

She looked up at him questioningly. "You looked uncomfortable", he said simply; turning back towards the courts.

"And you won't be?"

"Thicker skin" he said, smirking down at her again. She merely chuckled softly; looking back to the court where Ryoma's friends Kato Kachiro, and Mizuno Katsuo were playing tennis.

"They've got promise", she stated.

"Hai" he replied.

They pretty much sat in silence then, until the end of lunch. Tezuka could only think about the fact that she was leaning against him though. Her head was just under his cheek, and he let his head droop so that he was resting on her head. His arm was around her, pulling her into him; and it felt good just to sit there. He could have sat there with her forever.

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_**Reviews? xx Lallaaaa ;) xx  
**_


	16. Chapter 16

_**A/N: I have completely revised this story. I was bored, and it needed doing...I've changed some mistakes and taken some small things out of the story. And I have also added an extra chapter; which I had accidentally - not entirely sure how - missed out beforehand...which was troublesome...and I wanted to add it in...therefore you might want to read the story again; although you won't be missing overly much if you don't. Although I do like the story much better the way it is now...Thankies muchly to anyone who has reviewed in the past! :D WOopWoop! I love you all...and I hope you enjoy the new version of the story...**_

_**P.S. Get reviewing people...I now have more chapters than reviews...that's almost sad...sobsob**_

_**:P :D ;)**_

_**Song for this chapter: Chemicals React - Ally and A.J.  
**_

_**Chapter 16: Rush  
**_

Oishi had kept true to his word that he would not ever tell Eiji what Tezuka had told him that fateful day at the ice cream parlour. He'd never told _anyone_, in fact. Although Fuji had made it known to him, in so many words, that he had figured out exactly what was going on; that was the day after the tennis tournament.

However, Tezuka had not said anything about not _showing_ Eiji what was going on; and if he was going to sit there with her in his arms in their lunch hour, in plain sight of anyone who fancied walking past them, then that was certainly not his business. He was inclined; however, to make it Eiji's.

When he and Eiji had finished their lunch they decided to go and have a quick, friendly game of tennis. The fact that Oishi had seen Tezuka and Ayame walk off and sit under the tree had nothing to do with the fact that he wanted to play tennis. Or the fact that he wanted to go to his locker, in a round circle past the big tree, in order to get out his books before lessons. Nothing to do with it at all. It also had nothing to do with the fact that he knew Eiji would follow him; it was Eiji's life after all; it was not Oishi's fault if Eiji followed him, and the overly hyperactive redhead just _happened_ to see the two of them in a rather compromising position. After all, they were his eyes; it was his life.

It was, however, because Oishi happened to decide to get his books out of his locker early, and because the lockers happened to be behind the tennis courts; near the big tree, under which Tezuka and Ayame had sat under; and were now sitting in a very cosy position, that Kikumaru Eiji came to a very important realisation. He came to the realisation that Tezuka Kunimitsu; student body president, and tennis captain extrodinare, and Echizen Ayame; the as – yet – barely - known - but – well – liked new girl, were, in fact, dating.

He also came to the realisation that Oishi had not said anything to him about this important development in the captain's life. As he happened to be Tezuka's best friend, and pretty much knew everything there was to know about the guy; he had to assume that Oishi had been sworn to secrecy.

Tezuka, he decided in that moment, was far too private. However, from what he knew of Ayame; she was a lot more open with her private life. Therefore, Eiji decided the best plan of action would be to grill her about what was going on. No one would find it odd in the least if he asked her to join him for a while after school; they had hung out after school with Fujiko plenty of times, and no one had turned a hair.

He decided, then, that tonight would be the night he talked to Ayame; properly, about her relationship with his classmate.

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That afternoon Eiji had asked her to hang out with him after school was done. She had agreed, of course; she truly enjoyed the guys company. He was hilarious, albeit clumsy; and extremely cute.

They decided before they left school that they would go to the new café down town; she hadn't managed to go and check it out yet, and he insisted that the food there was brilliant; his sister and him had been down there at the weekend.

And so in the bright sun, on that Saturday afternoon, Ayame and Eiji had headed down to the 'kawaii' new café in town. The place was called 'Hayate Ai', and looked very clean and new.

The place turned out to be an all day breakfast bar. Ayame loved it before she'd even stepped inside the door.

The two of them made small talk about the lessons that day; and Eiji whined a lot about the teachers, until their food arrived. Then she spotted a determined look on his face; and suddenly realised that she probably hadn't been brought here just because he enjoyed her company. Fuji or Oishi probably would have been invited otherwise.

He looked up at her, as she started to eat, and said, quite quietly, "Do you like Tezuka buchou?"

She set down her knife and fork, chewing and swallowing quickly; before she looked back at him. "Um, how do you mean?" she was stalling; it was obvious even to her.

"Like a boyfriend nya!" he suddenly cried; seemingly back to his 'old self'

"Ah, well, what makes you say that?" she asked, taking a sip of her drink.

"Because he likes you like a girlfriend!" at these words she almost spat her drink back out. However, she managed to swallow the juice, while deciding on how she would answer that.

"Why on Earth would you think that Eiji kun?"

"Because I saw you two at lunch. It looked a lot like you were dating; and Tezuka usually doesn't like that stuff at all." He looked around the café quickly, as if looking for eavesdroppers, before he gestured for her to move nearer to him. "And because Oishi didn't say anything about it; I think Tezuka told him something and then swore him to secrecy!" he looked outraged, leaning back and crossing his arms, with a big frown across his face. "Oishi tells me everything!"

"Ah", she replied, smirking slightly, she thought there was something going on there. It seemed there was; maybe she could get something out of this conversation after all.

"Is that because he likes you the way you think Tezuka likes me?" She asked carefully. The boy pouted.

"Of course it is!"

He realised his mistake almost as soon as he had said it; and covered his mouth quickly. "Don't worry Eiji, I won't tell anyone", she said, sighing.

"We were gunna wait until after the nationals to say about it", the boy said quietly.

"I won't tell anyone Eiji, it's okay." The look on his face, however, told her that it was definitely _not _okay. She sighed again; now she was going to have to give him some leverage on her. At least, she supposed, she could get it off her chest; it _had_ felt good to tell Hannah about her feelings.

As he had done earlier, she looked around the café once, before leaning in towards him, and gesturing that he should to the same.

"I like Tezuka kun" she told him; knowing the boy would probably be confused if she called him Kunimitsu.

Eiji's eyes widened as he leaned back. "Then you _are_ dat - "

"No", she cut him of quickly, "We're not. We're just close friends; he doesn't like me _that _way."

Eiji, she discovered that day, was insistent, and persistent. Something that, in any other circumstance, she would probably find cute and endearing. However much she wanted to hear that she had a chance with her friend, at the moment, she wanted to just be realistic. It was sweet how Eiji tried to convince her though. She smiled sadly, and ignored his protests.

Eventually, he gave up. But not before he managed to leech out of her the fact that she planned to confess tomorrow. He had looked so utterly gleeful for a moment over the fact, that she wondered if Christmas had come early this year.

She was glad, at least, to leave him with a grin on his face.

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She'd just walked out of the café door when Eiji's phone rang.

"Moshi Moshi?" he asked the caller.

"I thought you were coming over here today Eiji?" Oishi questioned.

"Eh?! Oishi!? I am, I was just talking to Ayame chan!"

"Ayame chan?"

"Hoi! Hoi! Guess what Oishi!"

"What?"

"Hey Oishiii – you have to guess!"

"Okay Eiji, er, she got a new hair cut?"

"No!"  
"She bought you new toothpaste?"  
"No again…okay, okay! I'll tell you nya!"

"Okay…"

"She's going to confess to Tezuka Buchou tomorrow!"

At that moment, Eiji realised how loud he'd been yelling into the phone. In his defence, he had been very excited; however, he wasn't sure whether or not Ayame would be all too happy that he had just spilled her secret to a café full of on lockers. Luckily, he didn't see anyone else from Seigaku inside.

"Nya, Oishi, what do you think?" he whispered down the phone.

X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x X

_**Reviews? xx Lallaaaa ;) xx  
**_


	17. Chapter 17

_**A/N: I have completely revised this story. I was bored, and it needed doing...I've changed some mistakes and taken some small things out of the story. And I have also added an extra chapter; which I had accidentally - not entirely sure how - missed out beforehand...which was troublesome...and I wanted to add it in...therefore you might want to read the story again; although you won't be missing overly much if you don't. Although I do like the story much better the way it is now...Thankies muchly to anyone who has reviewed in the past! :D WOopWoop! I love you all...and I hope you enjoy the new version of the story...**_

_**P.S. Get reviewing people...I now have more chapters than reviews...that's almost sad...sobsob**_

_**:P :D ;)**_

_**Song for this chapter: She - di-rect  
**_

_**Chapter 17: The **_**one **_**day/the **_**last**_**day  
**_

As much as she hadn't particularly wanted to tell Eiji about her feelings towards Tezuka, it was necessary. If she had not, she was quite sure that suddenly the whole school would think that she was now a massive Tezuka fan girl. It was only once she'd walked out of the café, and turned around the corner that she realised by Monday it probably wouldn't matter either way.

'Damn', she thought, 'I just spilled my feelings for nothing.' She consoled herself; however, with the fact that he had just gotten free food; and she was now positive that Eiji and Oishi were dating. She _knew _it.

Eiji had had some rather interesting things to say on the subject of Tezuka's feelings towards her. She knew he wasn't anywhere near as close with other girls as he was with her; but he had never really thought about the way he acted towards them. She had never even thought about comparing the way he acted towards them, with the way he acted towards her.

Earlier that day, for example, when he had let her use him as a pillow. She really hadn't seen him act that way with anyone else. Although he did do nice stuff like that for her quite a lot. In Germany, for example; once, after a long run, she had twisted an ankle – without even a second thought, he'd given her a piggy back all the way back to the centre, which had to have been at least a mile away. Although she did weigh a lot less back then, but it was still a nice thing to do.

Other things included hugging her; she'd never seen him hug anyone else before; aside from his mother, who more or less grabbed him and squeezed him to death, and he was sure he'd probably hugged the trainers at the centre on the last day.

But that was all down to the fact that he didn't tend to show off his feelings and emotions too much; it was probably just because they were so close that he actually took the effort to hug her.

He gave very nice hugs though, it had to be said. He was lovely and warm and cuddly; though she would never tell him so – for fear of death. Maybe death by hug wouldn't be so bad though.

Judging by the hugs he gave, she sort of wanted to know how he was affectionate in other ways too. Kissing, for example. She had noticed his lips a lot more recently. She hadn't really lingered on that fact until now. However; she decided that kissing him would probably be a very nice experience. She wondered if he had ever kissed anyone before. She doubted it, from the reaction she got from kissing his cheek. Sometimes Kunimitsu was too cute.

She sighed to herself. She wondered how his fan girls would react if they ever saw his 'cute' side. To be honest; she wondered how they would react if they saw any other side to him other than his 'stoic' side.

The idea was laughable. Not only would his fan girls go completely crazy; she was sure that suddenly it would get much larger; the whole female population of Seigaku would probably be on his back. Even the girls who claimed to hate him for his 'arrogance' and 'stuck up ness'. It was only too obvious that they had never taken the time to know him. At least, she supposed, that some of the fan girls tried to. Although some of their efforts were laughable. Just last week a girl from second year, who should have known better, tried to engage him in a conversation about the different techniques he had used in his 'latest match'. She had obviously tried, and failed, to do research on the subject. It seemed somebody hadn't ever met Inui. If one of the girls asked him about Tezuka, or tennis for that reason, they might just grow to be a little bit more knowledgeable on the subject.

The best part of the conversation, though, was definitely when the girl had tried to talk to him about his famous drop shot. After completely mispronouncing the name (_Zero-Shiki) _which had made the move sound rather rude; she had then gone on to try and discuss the move; after which she had had the cheek to ask him if he'd teach it to her. It was, in all honesty, beyond laughable. She had told him so. She had asked him to please 'loosen up a bit' because then they might not try so hard. She was sure if they did keep carrying on like this, she might spontaneously combust. If this had been going on all through middle school, she was surprised that Tezuka himself hadn't.

She looked up to discover that she was outside her house. She quickly walked in, grabbed some dinner, and retreated to her room; which was where the thinking stopped, and the homework started.

X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x X

Tezuka had learned to hate the nights. It was Saturday evening now. He'd finished his homework, and his thoughts were unoccupied. Or were. Now they were filled with images of Ayame; scenes Ayame was in. And most recent of all the memories; the memories of lunch time; when he and she had shared the food they'd made the night before; and had sat in an embrace for the rest of the lunch hour. Tezuka would have been perfectly happy to stay there forever; but the lunch bell had eventually rung, signalling the end of lunch, and then they'd had to adjourn to the classroom for afternoon lessons. He'd watched her out of the corner of his eye all the way through their afternoon lessons, and was intending to ask her whether she would like to accompany him home to study again that night. Unfortunately, he had been called away for 'duties' thanks to his status as student body president. He had seen her leave with Eiji from the headmaster's window.

He just could not get her out of his head. He was pacing around his room like mad every night, just because he was so stressed. He wondered if it would get any better at all once he confessed to her. Afterwards, he would either have her as his girlfriend – would that mean that he'd stop thinking about her? Would she get out of his head? – or he would have to work extremely hard to get rid of these feelings for her. Which presumably meant dating other people; which is what the stupid hero always seemed to do in romance movies; once they were rejected. He couldn't imagine dating anybody else though. There was no way he would feel comfortable enough to be so intimate with anyone but Ayame.

If the woman rejected the hero in a romance film, the woman would usually later come back with a realisation that she had missed out on the man of her dreams. Or the guy would find another love. He definitely could never find another love; there was no one else like Ayame in the world. He just hoped he wouldn't blow his chance.

He had decided, in the end that kissing her spontaneously was definitely the way to go. It didn't involve getting tongue tied; or anything that would embarrass himself. Unless, of course, he did it wrong. Therefore, it would be a chaste kiss. Nothing fancy. He'd never experienced anything like 'the heat of the moment', and he assumed that it only happened in movies. He was sure a small kiss on the lips would solve all his problems though.

Timing was his only problem. He could take her to dinner, of course, and then kiss her good night afterwards; but would she take the dinner as a date? It would just be like asking her out; he would probably get tongue tied even asking her to dinner. It would have to be a friendly occasion he saw her on. Like when he'd gone to her house the other day, and they'd cooked dinner together. That was friendly; and nice; and had great atmosphere. He'd almost kissed her then! Why hadn't he kissed her then? Okay, he decided, this time he would not restrain himself; he would just kiss her when it felt right; that would be his 'timing'.

He lay down on his bed; once again not bothering with his pyjamas; no one would notice that he was just going to sleep in his boxers after all. He would ask her out tomorrow; just as friends, but he would turn it into something else. He hoped.

X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x X

Hannah had obviously forgotten that there was a big time difference between Germany and Japan. Or had gotten it wrong. Ayame was woken up at five in the morning by her phone going off; signalling the fact that she had received an e-mail.

The e-mail read: LAST DAY! Good Luck partner! – Hannah.

'Damn her' she thought grumpily, getting out of bed. She could never get back to sleep once she had woken up.

She replied to the e-mail quickly, informing Hannah that she would indeed be telling him today. How? She had no idea.

She decided that when she saw him, she would just bite the bullet. Although she had also decided that she would spend the day with him first; she would tell him at the end; that way she would at least have some happy memories before she was rejected.

She sighed and went to her computer. She messed about for a while; finishing some homework and checking her e-mails. She had several from her friends in America; she replied to them quite quickly; writing several paragraphs to each. She was reminded by their mail that Kevin was coming to visit soon. He and Ryoma had decided to do some training together; or rather, Nanjiro had decided that Kevin and Ryoma would compliment each other perfectly; partner wise. She was not sure whether Ryoma knew that Kevin was arriving in a couple of weeks, or whether he was completely blind to the fact. It didn't matter too much; she knew for a fact that despite having reservations about the boy when he met him; Ryoma respected him as a player, which basically meant that they'd get along fine.

Since it was still so early in the morning when she looked at her watch (by now it was half six), she decided to go out for a run; so she donned her shorts and a top, and set off down the road.

At half six in the morning, the last person she had expected to meet on the street was Kaidoh; she was under the impression the he preferred to run later in the day; but there he was, running down the road ahead of her as she reached town.

"Hey! Kaidoh!" she called to him; soon they were running together, making small talk as they went. As much as they could, that was, it was a cool morning, and they were both running quite a far distance; they did need to save their energy.

It was about an hour and a half later when she finally stopped; wishing Kaidoh a good day. She was about five minutes away from the Tezuka residence, and decided that eight was probably late enough to call on her friend. She knew that he liked to get up at ungodly hours in the morning. And knew, from a brief talk with his mother had confirmed that the rest of the family had the same habit.

Walking down the path she spotted Kunimitsu's grandfather in the garden; already pruning his flowers. He waved at her, and she did the same back.

She walked up to the door and knocked; before long Kunimitsu's mother, Tezuka san, opened the door for her.

"Ayame!" she had cried, flinging her arms around the girl. She had laughed and hugged the woman back, apologising for her state, she had 'just been on a run as she had come past the house, and then she had decided to stop by; knowing Kunimitsu was very partial to early mornings'.

Tezuka san had laughed, and told her that she seemed to have come by on the one day that he wasn't yet awake; however, she was welcome to come in and cool down with a drink while she waited. Ayame graciously accepted and followed the woman inside.

The two women chatted about Kunimitsu for a long while; both amusing each other with stories about him – Ayame was probably the most amused; who'd have thought that Mitsu was such a cute kid?

Eventually, it turned nine o clock, and Tezuka san told him that her son had probably slept in enough. She invited Ayame to go on up and wake him.

Ayame climbed the stairs as Tezuka san rushed off to do whatever work she did, and walked the hallway to Kunimitsu's room, which was the last on the left. She opened the door a crack to peek in, and saw that he was still in bed; fast asleep.

She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she watched him sleep. She couldn't help but take out her phone to steal a picture of him. He looked terribly peaceful, just laying there, so innocent…and cute.

However, her mischievous personality would not leave him there sleeping. Instead, she walked back to the opposite wall of the room, took a run up, and jumped onto the bed.

"ARGHHHHHHHH" came her friend's strangled yell. She started to laugh. When she'd landed on him he'd immediately bolted up and started yelling.

He looked down to see her on his bed, and breathed out slowly, reaching around to grab his glasses from his bedside table.

"Ayame?" he gasped, breathless. "What are you?"

Her laughing interrupted him; she ended up on her side, laughing her head off at his expression. She was right; he was too cute.

When she finally managed to control herself, she explained everything from her run, which ended outside, up until her jumping on him. She even got her phone out to show him the picture; which he had tried to delete. Luckily, Ayame was a bit quicker than him.

She ended up sitting on top of him. Her butt on the bed and her back against the wall, with her legs outstretched over his. He was sitting with his lower half covered by the duvet, exposing his torso, and arms. A fact that she knew full well that she was taking advantage of. Full advantage of, in fact.

She let her eyes graze over his top half when she thought he wasn't looking. She had known already, of course, that he was very fit; and looking at him now, she was not disappointed. His muscles were well defined, and he was very toned. A lot of time in the sun, for tennis practice she assumed, had also given him a pretty good tan; which only made him look more attractive.

Eventually, she had to stop admiring him, when he told her to get lost while he got changed. She sad outside the door to wait for him. Now was one of those times when she wished en suits had never been invented. Since he had a bathroom in his own room, he had no need to come outside of his room in a towel.

_Damn en suits to hell_

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Being woken up by Ayame first thing in the morning was not one of his favourite experiences. Tezuka was sure though, if she had chosen to wake him up in a different way, he probably would have counted it as one of his very favourite experiences. Waking up next to her, with her in his arms, preferably with about as much on as he was wearing at the present time, would be perfect, he told himself, as he climbed into his shower. A shower which he now switched to cold. He was far too much of a gentleman, of course, to actually picture her naked; however, even the idea of it seemed to turn him on.

Having a cold shower first thing in the morning, was another thing Tezuka didn't enjoy having to have. This coupled with being woken up by being jumped upon, after having a very embarrassing photograph taken of him, on one of the few days he decided to put his pyjamas aside in favour of getting to sleep quicker; made this morning: not so good. Having Ayame there when he woke up, however, dressed in not overly much (socks, shorts, and a tank top) however, was a big plus. Another big plus was the feeling of her eyes as she looked him over – several times. He wondered if she liked what she saw. He knew he was attractive; tennis kept him in rather good shape. However; he suspected he would gladly give in his looks and take Horio's, if that's what she preferred.

He sighed, and finished his shower. Laughing as he imagined the look on her face if he walked out with only a towel on. The image was pretty amusing.

He dried himself and shoved on some boxers and some longish shorts; before walking over to his wardrobe to grab a top. He looked over his tee-shirts, before pushing most of them out of the way to look for the item of clothing he had decided to wear.

He found it at the back of his wardrobe, new with tags. He'd brought the top for training, but had never had the nerve to put it on; he preferred sticking with his normal tee-shirts. He pulled off the tags, and pulled the blue tank top over his head; feeling a bit self conscious about the way it showed him off. He reached into the back of his wardrobe again and pulled out a light hoodie; he pulled it on, he was still cold from his shower.

He walked over to the door and pulled it open, chuckling as she fell back with it, landing on the floor; staring up at him. She had obviously been leaning on the door. "Don't you know you're supposed to knock?" she teased.

"Funny you didn't remember that this morning", he teased back, leaning down to give her a hand up.

"So", she said, once they were both standing, "What's the plan for today then?"

He was a bit taken aback; he hadn't even thought about it. Then he realised he did have an idea; he wondered if she would agree to it though…

"Would you like to play tennis?" he asked her. They'd never played properly together after all.

"Sure", she replied, grinning. "A champion's match!" she proclaimed, punching the air. The corners of his lips twitched up.

"We can walk to mine and play there", she said, "and get breakfast on the way. I'm starved."

"You came here having not eaten yet?" he asked her, incredulous.

"Well", she replied, "I wasn't really expecting to run so far. But then I saw Kaidoh, and we got talking." She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, before turning and grinning at him. "Breakfast on you?" she said sweetly.

He sighed. "Hai", he told her, knowing he would never get away with not paying.

He was right about being cold. Because she wasn't running as she had been earlier; within a few minutes Ayame was shivering. Being the gentleman he was, and unable to watch her suffer, he pulled off his hoodie and bundled her into it. She protested, but despite being quicker than he was; he was stronger.

By the time they'd reached her house, he had wrapped his arm around her in order to keep her warm, and he'd bought them both some hot coffee and eggs for breakfast.

X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x X

_**Reviews? xx Lallaaaa ;) xx Werrlll, this chapter would have been longer; because the next chapter was going to be part of this one...but I decided to do two shorter chapters...easier to digest in smaller chunks I thinks...  
**_


	18. Chapter 18

_**A/N: I have completely revised this story. I was bored, and it needed doing...I've changed some mistakes and taken some small things out of the story. And I have also added an extra chapter; which I had accidentally - not entirely sure how - missed out beforehand...which was troublesome...and I wanted to add it in...therefore you might want to read the story again; although you won't be missing overly much if you don't. Although I do like the story much better the way it is now...Thankies muchly to anyone who has reviewed in the past! :D WOopWoop! I love you all...and I hope you enjoy the new version of the story...**_

_**P.S. Get reviewing people...I now have more chapters than reviews...that's almost sad...sobsob**_

_**:P :D ;)**_

_**Song for this chapter: Cherry Lips - Garbage**_

_**Chapter 18: Don't let your guard down.  
**_

Apart from the few times he had been to see Ayame, the first time to drop her home, Tezuka had never visited the Echizen residence, so he can be forgiven for trying to think of which courts he and Ayame should go to play on, whilst he stood at the foot of the stairs, waiting for her to remerge with her tennis racket.

Nanako emerged first though, coming down the stairs with a bundle of clothes in hand. He helped her get them to the dryer while he waited for Ayame, and thought about which courts they would go to.

"Thank you, Tezuka san", said Nanako, bringing him once again out of his thoughts, "Are you and Ayame hanging out today as well?" She asked.

"Ah, hai", he replied, "We're going to play tennis".

"Ah, sounds like a good idea, it's a lovely day. You should make use of the sun while it's out. Oh, and while Nanjiro and Ryoma aren't around!" she giggled. Tezuka had no idea what she meant by that though.

"Pardon?"

"Oh", she said, "Come with me; Ayame will know where you are." She started to walk away, out of the back door. Tezuka grabbed his tennis bag and followed her.

They only walked a short distance; across a garden and up a path; they traipsed underneath an archway, and up some steps; the surrounding area was covered with trees and flowers. When he turned to look forwards; he saw something totally unexpected. There was a tennis court right in the middle of the lawn.

It was then that Tezuka remembered about Ryoma's dad being Echizen Nanjiro.

"What I meant earlier", Nanako started, "was that you two should make use of the courts while Ryoma and Nanjiro have left them free…for once." She smiled at him. "Go ahead and warm up; Ayame will be along in a moment I'm sure."

He watched as the woman headed back towards the house, then turned and looked at the court in amazement. A little prick of jealousy hit him then. He would have killed to have a tennis court in his garden. Somehow he was jealous of Ryoma, rather than Ayame; for some reason he found it hard to be even the slightest bit jealous of her.

It was not long before he heard Ayame taking the steps two at a time behind him.

"Let's get it on!" she called to him; running around his side to reappear the other side of the court. He pulled his tennis racket out of his bag, and put his bag at the side of the court. He then mirrored her actions and approached the net with her. She leaned over the net towards him, holding her racket on the ground his side of the net.

"Rough or Smooth?"

"Smooth"

Ayame took the first serve; she seemed to be warming up; she was playing gently. Neither of them played hard in the first two sets; preferring to talk while they played, rather than place their focus on the game.

Each won their service game; after that, it started to get a bit more serious; her serve started to get faster every time she hit the ball to his side; though she didn't hit any he couldn't return with minimal effort. He chose to use her tactic and play the same way against her.

Each won their service game again, and it was soon Ayame's turn to serve once more. He watched her as she got ready to serve; she took a long time looking at the ball; she appeared to be deciding on a new tactic.

This time she hit him with a much faster ball than he had seen before. He managed to hit it back; but it was close – he hadn't been expecting it at all.

Though at the time he thought almost missing the fast ball was bad; he completely missed her next serve. Her stance changed, and she served with a twist serve. He wasn't able to hit it in time, and he had lost the point. 'Damn', he thought, 'her stance is so different to Ryoma's',

She started alternating between twist, and fast serves; but since he had seen them both before; he immediately got wise to them, and managed to counter them.

Since she had started playing a bit more seriously; he guessed it was time to up his pace a little more. He started serving one of his faster serves. She struggled a little at first; but by the end of the game, she was hitting them back with ease. He'd need to change tactics next time.

He stood, looking at her from his end of the court, and wondered what kind of a serve she was going to pit against him next. He thought he might try harder to win this game; it would be nice to win against her after all; although he had realised that she still wasn't playing her hardest. He wondered if she ever would. If he started playing a lot more seriously, maybe she would try harder to match him?

He might as well try

It took a while for her to serve again; she seemed to be going over her options. She went to serve the ball again; her racked connecting with a loud _whack, _and he could tell this was a serious serve.

The ball was out; just. It was lucky; it had been an extremely fast ball; one that could probably match his bullet serve. He wondered if she could hit one in though. He hoped not for his sake; he wasn't sure he'd be able to hit it back with out some practice.

In the end it took him several tries to be able to hit the ball back. It was a very fast ball she was serving; he was almost certain it could hold it's own against his bullet serve.

Since she had started serving seriously, he decided it was time to up his game as well. The next serves he hit were all bullet serves. It seemed, however, that she'd been faking effort in returning his faster balls; she managed to hit his bullet serve back on her second try. He'd been so surprised that he'd completely missed her return.

He looked at her from the court. She was grinning, then she mouthed something at him. Something that looked suspiciously like 'don't let your guard down'.

She didn't win another point from that game.

They played together for a long time; neither of them giving an inch of leeway after the first few games. They eventually stopped counting how many games they had played. They knew that they had won pretty much the same amount.

Eventually they gave up and went in for lunch.

_**X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x ****X**_

_**Reviews? xx Lallaaaa ;) xx Werrlll, this chapter would have been longer; because the previous chapter was going to be part of this one...but I decided to do two shorter chapters...easier to digest in smaller chunks I thinks...  
**_


	19. Chapter 19

_**A/N: I have completely revised this story. I was bored, and it needed doing...I've changed some mistakes and taken some small things out of the story. And I have also added an extra chapter; which I had accidentally - not entirely sure how - missed out beforehand...which was troublesome...and I wanted to add it in...therefore you might want to read the story again; although you won't be missing overly much if you don't. Although I do like the story much better the way it is now...Thankies muchly to anyone who has reviewed in the past! :D WOopWoop! I love you all...and I hope you enjoy the new version of the story...**_

_**P.S. Get reviewing people...I now have more chapters than reviews...that's almost sad...sobsob**_

_**:P :D ;)**_

_**Song for this chapter: Somewhere I belong - Linkin Park / Hello - Lionel Richie  
**_

_**Chapter 19: Bunny Walk  
**_

After lunch, Tezuka had no idea what they should do. When they had eventually returned inside, they had found some food left out from them, which had been, very kindly, prepared for them by Nanako, who had left a note saying that she was going out, and to enjoy themselves, and the food.

During the meal Tezuka had contemplated many of the different things that he and Ayame could do afterwards; whilst trying to keep up with the small talk which she made. The small talk was mostly about Nanako, and how great she was; she told Tezuka how like a sister the girl was, and how great it was to have a sister. She loved Ryoma like a brother of course; but nothing matched up to having a sister. Tezuka was, of course, happy that she had someone so close to her; however, he found that he did get a bit jealous that he was not the one who she was talking about so happily.

In the end, he didn't have to think of anywhere to go, or anything to do afterall. Ayame informed him after the meal that she had some good ideas for them. After, of course, they had washed up.

Of course; after the perfect morning, the washing up part would have to go wrong. They did rock, paper, sissors, to decide who would wash up and who would dry up, even though Tezuka insisted that he would wash up. So in the end, Tezuka got the drying; and they stood there washing and drying, while Ayame told him about how the dishwasher had broken a few weeks ago, and how Nanjiro had, as yet, been too lazy to go and buy a new one. They'd got almost halfway through the washing up when it happend. One moment the was talking; the next she had managed to slop water all down her front; because of the shock of slicing her finger on a knife.

Luckily the cut wasn't deep when she pulled it out of the water; but he panicked at the sight of the blood anyway. He quickly pulled her over to the kitchen table, whilst she laughed at his panicked antics, before he asked where the first aid box was, and grabbed it down.

He sat next to her with her bleeding finger between two of his, examining it. The blood didn't seem to want to stop.

He didn't know why he did what he did next; it was probably one of those 'spur of the moment' things, brought on by an idea in one of those stupid romantic comedies. Whatever it was that caused him to do it, he pulled her finger up to his mouth, and sucked it until the blood ran dry. When he was done, he pulled out a plaster and stuck it gently around her finger. When he turned back to her, she was speechless. It was then he realised what he'd done. He turned away from her; blushing, his head to the floor. "Erm, I saw it on TV once", he muttered, embarrassed.

He knew it would be okay, however, when he heard her laughter, he knew it was okay. He turned back around to face her; where she was sitting and rocking around on her chair, almost in danger of falling off.

After that incident, Tezuka would not let her get anywhere near the sink, making her do the drying instead; after she had changed her clothes of course. She'd come back down five minutes later in an almost identical outfit; plus, this time, a hoodie.

When they'd finished, she told him several of the ideas she'd had about how to spend the remainder of the afternoon. His favorite of which, happened to be one of her famous compromises. Her compromise had, in fact, encorperated several of her already used compromises; from when they were in Germany.

The plan was that they would head on down to the shops, and get some ice, and green tea, and some milk, and dark chocolate. Theh they would take the train out of town, and in the early evening, by which time it would be then; they would go bunny hunting in the woods there. He thought the idea sounded fine; and he knew when she was a child her father had taken her out 'bunny hunting' which meant that they would walk around the woods quietly, trying to see the wild little animals. Tezuka thought it was somewhat endeering how cute she was sometimes. She was extremely excited about the idea, and couldn't wait to get going; it seemed. Somehow Tezuka thought the idea also sounded somewhat romantic.

Although they had now decided on their plan; it was still about four in the afternoon still; they would need the darkness to go 'bunny hunting', therefore, Ayame suggested that he should choose something to do while they waited; since the compromise was, after all, weighted in her favour.

He pretended to deliberate over the choices for a long time; driving her mad, he knew. In the end though, he just dragged her into the living room to watch TV for a while. They ended up watching some mindless comedy that neither one was paying attention to because, unbeknownst to the other; they were acctually focused on each other.

Eventually the six o clock mark passed, and they decided they'd better get moving. They took the next bus into town, and stocked up a lot. They ended up with two big bags of milk and dark chocolate, and a big bag which contained ice and green tea. After hearing her stomach rumble one too many times; Tezuka also insisted that he bought them some 'decent' food; which ended up being a shared bag of chips; smothered with ketchup. Tezuka was going to have to work out harder than usual tomorrow...

Somehow Ayame had managed to stuff all of the food and drink into Tezuka's tennis bag (minus his racket), which she had 'thoughtfully' brought. This meant that Tezuka had the joyous task of carrying said food. They managed to finish off the chips on the train platform, so Ayame didn't have anything to carry at all; having slipped her hoodie on over her top. She was amazingly good at dodging work, he decided.

She was also amazingly good at getting into trouble; he discovered, as, on the train, whilst he was putting down their bag between his ankles, so that he cold hold onto it, and make sure it wasn't stolen, some random guys showed up and started talking to her. They seemed harmless at first, flirting a little - that didn't bother him too much; apart from the small sparks of annoyance; but he could tolerate it. What he could not tolerate though, was when one of the boys reached out behind her to try and grope her.

Tezuka wacked his hand away as soon as he saw it; before yanking Ayame back into him, wrapping his arms around her protectivly. "Move" he told him, in his best 'tennis captain' voice. The boys understood, and they soon moved away under the gaze of Tezuka.

When they had gone, he pulled her around to his other side; so that she was between him and the window, and wrapped his free arm around her waist; pulling him close to him. He did this so that no one else would be stupid enough to try and grop her, annoy her, or otherwise cause sparks of hatred to ignite inside of him. Guiltily, he supposed, he also felt good to have her next to him like this. She was warm in his arms, and she sunk back into him; understanding what he was trying to do.

It took about twenty minutes for their train to get to the outskirts of town. About fifteen of those were some of the happiest of Tezuka's life. The feeling of her in his arms was unevquvilent. By the end of the journey, she had sunk back into him quite a lot, and had wrapped her arms around his waist. This meant that he was holding on for both of them with his one arm, but having her here with him felt brilliant anyhow. He was sure the train couldn't crash on a day like this.

He was almost disopointed when he heard their stop being announced; and he hoped she felt the same way; she shifted out his grasp, and took his hand, pulling him towards the door; leaving him almost no time to shove his heavy bag back on his back.

As soon as they'd left the train she let go of his hand; she'd obviously been worried that he would get lost of left beind. Not likely, he'd never lose her. Ever.

They decided togeather to have a chocolate and tea picnic in the woods before going on the bunny hunt. That way Tezuka would not have to carry such heavy stuff around for the whole evening. So she had realised how heavy the bag was...

The drinking and eating bit of the evening was pretty uneventful. They basically played with their food - alot - making each other catch chocolate in their mouths, and the like, and drank as normal. By the time they'd finished and packed away, the sun was going down, and there was just enough light to see. That's when they set off.

They walked through the woods in silence; trying not to scare away the creatures they were searching out. Being far lighter, Ayame was much better at this; sneaking off ahead to try and see the bunnies first. Not that Tezuka minded; she could do anything and he would probably think it was brilliant.

They managed to see quite a few rabbits, amongst other wildlife while it was still light. Togeather they also picked lots of wildflowers, which she tried to style into his hair and clothes many times. He had retaliated, now they both had lots of flowers and smelled great.

The real fun, however, came when it got dark. They ended up playing a very difficult game of 'hide and seek' in the woods, and eventually ended up in the dark, running and chasing each other around mindlessly. This game ended up with both of them on the floor, giggling.

Eventually, they managed to restrain their laughter, and they lay back togeather, looking up at the stars. They talked about constilations for a while; but neither of them knew enough about them to have a proper discussion about them; so they lapsed into silence.

After a while, he turned to find her shivering agin; so he once again pulled off his hoodie and wrapped her up in it; having to pull her up and force her into it.

"But you'll be cold" she complained.

"I don't care, as long as you're not."

"But you're the one who brought the hoodie!" she continued.

He sighed, sitting up again, before moving towards her, and pulling her back into his arms, pulling her into his lap, and leaning on her shoulder. He hugged her tightly to him. "This way we'll both be warm", he told her, as she turned to look at his head on her shoulder. She could see his eyes looking up at her in the moonlight. He looked so serious.

He squeezed her again, to help her get the hint. She was gorgeously warm in his arms; not that he would have cared if she was stone cold. He looked up at her through the gaps in his hair; which was flopping over his face, as he rested his chin on her warm shoulder. Her face was silouetted in the moonlight. She looked so worried.

His hands started to rub up and down her back and arms; trying to create friction and warm her up. It felt lovely. She wondered if he knew how much she liked this feeling. Being in his arms like this was glorious; she knew this had been a good idea; and she had always loved the woods at night; it was beautiful. She couldn't help but notice how good he looked that night, his features highlighted by the moonlight. She guessed she would have to tell him soon; just a few more minutes; she wanted this to last just a little longer.

Tezuka decided she might be more comfortable if she was sitting and leaning against him more; instead of crammed up against him, like she was now; so he spread out his legs on the floor, pulling her between them, and pulling her back into his arms, so she was leaning against him. He looked down at her again; an easier feet now she was on the floor rather than on his lap. Her head was resting against his chest, and her hair was moving around in the breeze gently. He held her with one hand, and ran his free hand through her hair a little.

She moaned slightly; she had always loved people playing with her hair; it had made her scalp feel all ticklish and tingly; but havin Kunimitsu do it had amplified these feelings. It felt almost sensual when he was doing it. She pulled his arm round her even tighter, and lent back into him more, relishing the moment. She opened her eyes, and looked up at his moonlit face once again.

She looked up at him, he was sure he had heard her moan. He remembered once before that she had loved having her hair played with; that would probably explain it. When she looked up at him though; her eyes sparkling in the starlight, a smile gracing her lips, he knew that it was the 'time' he had been thinking of. This felt too right to be wrong. He let his hand trail back down to her neck, and gently tilted her head up towards him. His eyes found her lips; open, breathing. He bent his head down and pressed his lips against hers.

It was the most amazing feeling. She had felt her head tip back, and looked into his eyes; seeing an emotion there that she did not recognise. Then she felt his breath on her cheeks, before she felt his lips brushing against hers. Her lips tingled with the sensation, his lips were cold, but soft, and were gently moving against hers, very gently, very slowly. She turned her head towards him a little more, and pushed back on his lips; responding to his touch with her own. She slid her arm between them and threaded it through his hair.

She kissed him back; he hadn't been rejected; she liked him too. Or that's the impression he was getting. He reached around her, wrapping her in his arms again, and turned her towards him, pulling her back into him a little more, loosening his hold when she started moving to kneel in front of him; sliding her other hand up his neck and getting it tangled in his hair. He pulled her closer again, wrapping one hand around her waist, the other tangling in her own hair. He had never experianced 'the heat of the moment' before; but he was just about to realise what it was all about.

He pulled her as close to himself as he could, the hand which had been around her waist slid inside of her jacket and round her back, the lower half of his arm brushed the skin of her lower back, which had been exposed when she'd stretched out to kneel. It caused her skin to tingle in a most delicious way. She pushed herself even closer, and pushed harder against his lips.

Her lips became rougher against his own, so he pushed back, like in the tennis match they'd shared; each of them setting a pace; the other meeting it. Soon their lips were moving togeather in a harsh rythem; their hands grasping at each other's hair and bodies like a lifeline, until, finaly, they broke apart; gasping for breath.

His eyes took in her face, looking for a sign of acceptance, or rejection. He merely found her eyes tracing his face as he was tracing hers. He almost laughed. Almost. Instead her pulled her back down into his lap, wrapping his arms around her tightly, and leant his head down to her ear to wisper softly, "I love you".

His heart almost felt as if it would burst, when she turned around to face him, and look him in the eye, telling him "I love you too".

_**The End**_

Well la di da.

_**Reviews much?**_

_**X**_

_**Hmm, outtakes? Sequel? Tell me?**_

_**x**__****_


	20. Outtake 1

_**A/N: I have completely revised this story. I was bored, and it needed doing...I've changed some mistakes and taken some small things out of the story. And I have also added an extra chapter; which I had accidentally - not entirely sure how - missed out beforehand...which was troublesome...and I wanted to add it in...therefore you might want to read the story again; although you won't be missing overly much if you don't. Although I do like the story much better the way it is now...Thankies muchly to anyone who has reviewed in the past! :D WOopWoop! I love you all...and I hope you enjoy the new version of the story...**_

_**P.S. Get reviewing people...I now have more chapters than reviews...that's almost sad...sobsob**_

_**:P :D ;)**_

_**Song for this chapter: Your call - Secondhand Seronade **_

_**Outtake sorta thing:**_

They were on the last leg of the journey back home; everything was dark, but the streets were illumed by the gentle light of the streetlights; throwing sunny yellow light over the dank, grey streets.

Suddenly everything looked a lot more beautiful. Nothing, however, could match up to the beauty of the boy who was walking next to her. She couldn't help but sneak glances at him at every opportunity she had. He was gorgeous; beautiful, handsome. And all hers, finally. She hated to think what sort of terrors hit fan girls would think up for her on Monday; but for now she didn't care; all that mattered was the fact that his warm hand was wrapped around her far smaller one, and that they'd just shared the most amazing night together ever. She had no idea how she was meant to sleep after this; no dream could match up to reality any more. Just to be on the safe side; she'd pinched herself to make sure this wasn't a dream. It wasn't; it was now just a more painful reality.

Every time she glanced up at him she couldn't help but smile. She couldn't believe her luck. She had, this evening, managed to bag Seigaku's student council president, tennis captain, most eligible bachelor. Did she mention that he was also the love of her life?

She kept squeezing his hand as well, just to make sure he was still there. She didn't truly understand though, why she was having such a hard time believing this was real. In the past she'd never doubted the things people had told her, (apparently she was naive). Apple's are bad for you? Sure. If you eat too many watermelons you'll turn into one? Great. The teacher told me you got 1 on your last test? Oh _damn._

Somehow she'd even managed to believe that Nanjiro wasn't a pervert for most of her life. Hand her Tezuka Kunimitsu on a plate however? Come again?

She definitely didn't want this night to end. Ever. Not just because the fan girls would strike back on Monday; but because she was sure if it did; she would never have such an amazing night in her life. Such an amazing time, such amazing fun, such an amazing kiss…

Even thinking about that kiss made her go weak at the knees. For someone who hadn't kissed anyone before; it was a damn good kiss. Not that she had anything to compare it to. She didn't need to though; she was a girl, she knew a good kiss when she got one. And that was one hell of a kiss.

All too soon they were at her door, and he was bidding her goodnight. She felt like crying; she wanted him to stay with her that night – and forever after, if she could wrangle it.

He wrapped his arms around her, and leant down to kiss her lightly on her forehead; then her cheek; then he dropped kisses down her jaw line, and down her neck; nudging the material of her hoodie away with his nose so that he could reach more of her. Then he rested his forehead against hers, looking down into her eyes; their noses touching; causing tingles to tickle her face.

Finally he kissed her cheek, pushed her hair away from her ear, and lent in to whisper, "sweet dreams", in her ear. He pulled away, and leant in to kiss her lips gently, in a sweet, chaste kiss. Then he was gone.

Still in a daze, Ayame somehow managed to let herself in, climb up the stairs, and pull her pyjamas on. Somehow she managed to pull her shorts off over her pyjamas when she realised that she'd forgotten to take her clothes of first.

She reached out towards her bedside table to get her phone, before going to bed, planning to text Hannah, so that she could phone her first thing tomorrow. She looked at the time before the flipped open the phone, 11:58pm.

She flipped the phone open, and started to press in a text quickly; just before she finished, however, the phone rung. She almost dropped it she was so surprised.

"AYAME!" came the yell from the other end of the phone line; she turned towards the clock, 12.00am on the dot. Hannah was calling for details.

"Ah", she groaned, "Hannah, you do realise what time it is right?"

"Yup! It's twelve am Japan time baby!" she called to her.

In the end, Ayame ended up spilling all the details to her troublesome friend; and their conversation lasted until two in the morning. This was not a wise thing to do on a school day.

Especially when the fan girls would be waiting.

_**Reviews much?**_

_**X**_

_**Hmm, more outtakes? Sequel? Tell me?**_

_**x**___


	21. Special people' bit YAR!

_**Chapter Song: Shiny Happy People - R.E.M.**_

_**Chapter Title: Without you I'm nothing (I wonder why...)**_

_**SPECIAL MENTIONS CHAPTER! (teehee)  
**_

_**Basically: if you reviewed the story, you'll get put here...either now...or when you eventually review ;) So you'd better :P**_

_**I'll update it if any more people review anyways ;)**_

_**Here goes with the list:**_

_**Fujilovesme**_

_**ImmortalxDreams**_

_**Invisible-gurl**_

_**SS-lover06**_

_**Sniper1250**_

_**Dragon Reverb  
**_

_**Aika Hanagowa **_

_**Animealover**_

_**And finally,**_

_**DreamsRMyLife - Can I just say here I LOVED YOUR TEZUKA OC STORY! OH EM GEE!! :D Tee hee...erm...yesh...moving onwards...**_

_**THE END WOO.**_

**OH! I HAS ONE TO ADD :D YAYZORS :P**

_**Ixamxeverywhere (**__**kaytei-kun)**_

- - - - - Your review made me megahappies :D So yar; I'll write a sequel...will start tonight...or tomorrow...depending on how tired am later...

_**LittleSnowDancer - cheers :P Have corrected 'walls of text' - I had another comment on this...didn't realise how bad it was though xD teehee sorryyy :D**_

x

_**  
Come review other people...other readers, aliens, other identified species...etc ;) YAR! :D**_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx


	22. PREVIEW OF SEQUEL!

_**Okay people..this is a, erm, sneak peak (?) at the sequel to 'Different', I don't know whether or not to carry on with the story or not...so you'll have to tell me...**_

_**Feel free to review it ;) I'd like to know what you all think!**_

_**And I probably won't post a sequel if you guys don't tell me to anywhooo...**_

_**  
:D ;) :P  
**_

_**...I would also like opinions as to whether I should write it a bit more 'grown up' as they will be sort of entering high school togeather, and such and such, relationships move on...as it were...I really don't mind...I write for you, after all...and I can always write two versions :P**_

**_Love is a learning process_******

****_The Monday after she had become Tezuka Kunimitsu's girlfriend, was one of the best, and worst days of her life. It was the best; of course, because she was officially, for the first time, the girlfriend of Tezuka Kunimitsu, Seigaku's student body president, tennis captain, and teen girl idol extraordinaire. It was the worst, however, because of the impending doom that she felt was approaching. Approaching in the form of a couple of hundred rabid fan girls. She could almost see them looming in the distance from her house that morning._

_ Of course; she didn't truly see them looming in the distance until she turned the familiar corner, and saw Seigaku's gates in the distance. As of that day the gates seemed to have become a popular hang out for the modern day teenage girl; first thing in the morning. Suddenly, she felt quite glad that she had decided to go to school to Ryoma and Momo that morning. Now she had the attitude, and the muscles to protect her. Although, admittedly, she'd probably trade her 'guards' in for Kamura wielding a tennis racket any day._

_ The saying 'a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush' was no longer a comfort to her._

_ She was just in the process of thinking about turning back and running as fast as humanly possible back to her home, when she saw** him**. Or rather felt him. A hand slid around her waist and pulled her into a rather larger, and taller body than hers. A body that she recognised, thankfully, as being Kunimitsu's. Kunimitsu being her boyfriend; that's right fan girls; suck on **that!**_

_ Having the most attractive, loving, brilliant man ever suddenly attach himself to you, in front of a lot of probably better looking girls than you, and knowing he only wanted you sort of gave you the spontaneous want to jump up and give them all the victory sign. Or maybe a backwards victory sign…_

_**In Ayame's mind anyhow.**_

_ Either way, neither was going to happen; their hatred was visible from here. It probably wasn't for her to say; or the right thing for her to say, but she wasn't going to be the one to 'smack the pony', as it were._

_ However, she wasn't going to knock a gift horse in the mouth either; so she turned around and planted one on him, right on the lips, probably the boldest thing she had ever done. She was pleased to note, however, that Tezuka looked pretty happy about it. Turning back towards the fan girls, now in recognisable facial feature seeing distance, they were not._

_ No, they were not happy at all…_


	23. SQEUEL INFO!

_**Okayyy; this is a note about the SEQUEL (Yes, Ima write one :P)**_

_**Okayy, I just wanted to say thankies to Ixamxeverywhere :P (****kaytei-kun) I will write a sequel :P Wouldn't like you to be disopointed :D Teehee :P**_

_**The sequel will, however, be a little bit different from this one...I don't know why but the writing style has changed abit..don't blame me...blame the itsy bitsy part of my brain which comes up with this stuff...and my pen for writing it :D But I hope that's not tooo much of an issue...**_

_**...I think also that the sequel will be a bit more 'open', I was gunna do farrr more Goldenpair in this one...but it just didn't happen..how troublesome...but Ima try and do more this time...I really wanted to experiment with them...I love Eiji and Oishi...they're sooo much fun :D**_

_**...lastly! The sequal is going to be called Similar! (hahahah, how creative AM I?)**_

_****__**Acctually, the 'official' name will be called Similar:Love is a Learning Process**_

_********__So there :P Now go review...and read ;)_


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